Ketoacidosis in diabetic patients with infections of respiratory and urinary tract

Abstract

Objective: To determine the frequency of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) and the clinical profile in diabetic patients admitted to the Martín Icaza General Hospital (HGMI) from January 2017 to 2019.  Materials and methods: A retrospective and descriptive study was carried out. with a non-experimental design in diabetic patients diagnosed with DKA and urinary or respiratory infections admitted to the emergency service of the aforementioned hospital. The data from medical records were used, obtaining clinical varibles. Results: Subjects with DKA were more frequently type 2 diabetics (72.7%; n=40), with urinary tract infection (65.5%; n=36), in the age group 45-70 years (40% ; n=22), with overweight (32.7%; n=18), with a state of dehydration grade II (52.7%; n=29), the most common manifestations were: vomiting (78%; n=43) and abdominal pain (65%; n=36), with a mortality of 7.3% (n=4). In the evaluation of patients with DKA according to gender, urinary infections were more frequent in women (66.7%), and respiratory infections were more common in men (68.4%). Conclusion: Respiratory and urinary tract infections constitute one of the main causes of DKA in the studied sample. Although the symptoms may be nonspecific (vomiting, abdominal pain, dehydration), it is important to have a high index of suspicion given the high mortality rate that it conditions.