Diabetic ketoacidosis
In medicine, diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a type of metabolic acidosis that is a "life-threatening complication of diabetes mellitus, primarily of Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus with severe insulin deficiency and hyperglycemia. It is characterized by excessive lipolysis, oxidation of fatty acids, production of ketone bodies, a sweet smell to the breath (ketosis;) dehydration; and depressed consciousness leading to coma.[1]
Treatment begins with fluid replacement; insulin is not started immediately. It is often secondary to infection or other comorbidity, which must be diagnosed and treated. [2]As it is treated, DKA converts from a high anion gap metabolic acidosis to a normal anion gap metabolic acidosis due to "excretion of ketone anions in the urine"[3], especially if excreted with sodium or potassium cations.
References
- ↑ Anonymous (2024), Diabetic ketoacidosis (English). Medical Subject Headings. U.S. National Library of Medicine.
- ↑ Rucker DW (February 12, 2008), "Diabetic ketoacidosis", eMedicine
- ↑ Oh MS, Carroll HJ, Goldstein DA, Fein IA (December 1978). "Hyperchloremic acidosis during the recovery phase of diabetic ketosis". Ann. Intern. Med. 89 (6): 925–7. PMID 102229. [e]