Clinical features, mortality, hospital admission, and length of stay of a cohort of adult patients with diabetic ketoacidosis attending the emergency room of a tertiary hospital in Spain.

Aim: To assess the clinical features, length of stay, incidence rate, mortality, and hospital admissions of patients with episodes of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA).

Patients: It was conducted retrospective, cross-sectional study of 164 consecutive admissions of adult patients (2008-August 2012), with type 1 or type 2 diabetes already known or new onset.

Results: Mortality rate was 1.2%. The DKA episodes were mild (18.9%), moderate (31.7%), or severe (49.4%). The cumulative incidence was 2.66 cases/1000 patients with diabetes (DM) in 4.5 years. The most common causes triggering DKA were infection (33.2%) and dietary transgression and/or insulin dose omission (30.7%). A total of 12.8% of patients had new onset DM, 56.7% type 1, and 26.8% type 2 DM. Patients with type 2 DM were older and had at admission higher creatinine, BUN, osmolality, sodium, and anion gap levels. Patients with new-onset of DM had higher levels of glucose and sodium, but lower potassium levels. No differences were found in pH or bicarbonate. Admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) was required in >50% of cases (p<0.001), and 86.6% of patients were finally admitted to a medical ward (p=0.005). The length of stay at the ICU (p<0.001) and hospital (p=0.013) was significantly different depending on DKA severity.

Conclusions: Most DKA episodes require hospital admission, but mortality is <2%, and length of stay at the ER and medical ward depends on type of DM and initial severity of the episode.