Demographic and Laboratory Features of Diabetic Ketoacidosis Among Pediatric Patients: A 5-year Single-center Study in Golestan Province

Type 1 diabetes is the second most common chronic disease in children and adolescents whose clinical manifestations are often associated with ketoacidosis. The objectives of this study were to describe the characteristics of patients with diabetic ketoacidosis, compare these characteristics among patients with known and newly diagnosed diabetes, and analyze subgroups based on the severity of the disease.

This retrospective cross-sectional study was performed on children and adolescents aged 2 to 18 who were admitted to Taleghani Hospital from April 2016 to March 2020 with a diagnosis of diabetic ketoacidosis. According to the severity of the disease, the patients were divided into three groups: mild, moderate, and severe. The data was statistically  analyzed using SPSS (version 23) software.. P-value<0.05 was considered the level of statistical significance.

Forty-nine children and adolescents diagnosed with diabetic ketoacidosis were hospitalized during the study period. The average age of patients was 10.12±3.59 years, and 32 (65.3%) were girls. About 61% of patients had previously known diabetes. A statistically significant difference was observed in the time to get out of ketoacidosis and creatinine level among the three groups of disease severity.

More than half of the patients had diabetes. The results showed that the more severe the disease, the longer the time needed to get rid of diabetic ketoacidosis.