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Pediatrics, Diabetic Ketoacidosis: Follow-up
Updated: Jun 16, 2008
Follow-up
Further Inpatient Care
- Admit children with diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) for further evaluation, observation, management, diabetes education, and assessment of compliance by responsible caretakers.
- Assess the need for social service intervention.
Transfer
- Transfer to a pediatric intensive care unit is prudent for the patient with persistent altered mental status, resistant acidosis, and hemodynamic instability, and for the first-time newly diagnosed patient.
Deterrence/Prevention
- If the patient is known to have diabetes, maintain compliance with an insulin therapy regimen and close contact with the treating physician. This is especially important in the presence of nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain.
Complications
- Cerebral edema
- Cerebral edema occurs in 0.7-1% of children with DKA.
- Causes are multifactorial but may include too-rapid infusion of fluids and electrolytes, overhydration, and overly aggressive correction of acidosis or hyperglycemia.
- Treatment includes intubation, hyperventilation, and mannitol 0.25-1 g/kg intravenously.
- Hypoglycemia
- Causes include increased sensitivity to exogenous insulin and insufficient serum glucose for insulin to metabolize.
- Treatment includes adding 5-10% dextrose to intravenous fluids when serum glucose level is 250-300 mg/dL.
- Hypokalemia
- Serum potassium begins to reflect actual total body potassium depletion as volume depletion and acidosis resolve.
- Add potassium to intravenous fluids (see Emergency Department Care) when urine output is present and results of serum potassium level are available.
- Cardiac dysrhythmia
- Causes include hyperkalemia, hypokalemia, and hypocalcemia.
- Treatment involves correcting the specific cause.
- Pulmonary edema
- Causes include low plasma oncotic pressure and increased pulmonary capillary permeability.
- Treatment includes oxygen and diuresis.
Prognosis
- The prognosis is excellent if aggressive fluid and insulin therapy commence in the first few hours of diagnosis.
Miscellaneous
Medicolegal Pitfalls
- Overreliance on a serum glucose level greater than 350 to diagnose diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA)
- Failure to diagnose DKA or its complications
- Lack of vigilance with regard to electrolyte shifts
- Failure to diagnose underlying infection or other precipitating event
- Aggressive insulin therapy before correction of potassium
- Failure to provide adequate potassium replacement in the potassium-depleted patient
Special Concerns
- The pregnant patient with gestational diabetes should be treated in consultation with a pediatric endocrinologist and obstetrician.
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References
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Further Reading
Keywords
diabetic ketoacidosis, DKA, hyperglycemia, ketosis, acidosis, ketone bodies, diabetes, type 1 diabetes mellitus, type 2 diabetes mellitus, insulin deficiency, diabetic ketoacidosis in children, lactic acidosis, hypokalemia, cerebral edema
Follow-up: Pediatrics, Diabetic Ketoacidosis