Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) in children and young adults carries significant morbidity and mortality relating to complications such as cerebral oedema. Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a rare but potentially fatal complication of DKA. We present three cases of DKA complicated by AKI.

Case 1: A 9-year-old girl presented with severe DKA at diagnosis. She was treated with intravenous fluids and insulin as per protocol. She had oliguria and haematuria 36 h after admission. She was hypertensive with evidence of enlarged kidneys on ultrasound (USS). She was transferred to the renal unit where she needed two cycles of hemodialysis before making full recovery.

Case 2: A 14-year-old girl presented with severe DKA and altered consciousness at diagnosis. She developed oliguria 24 h after starting treatment for DKA. USS of abdomen showed enlarged kidneys. Her renal function improved with haemofiltration and recovered fully by 1 week.

Case 3: 17-year-old girl with poorly controlled type 1 diabetes presented with severe DKA. She showed evidence of AKI with very high plasma creatinine, oliguria and low plasma phosphate. She was managed conservatively with individualised fluid plan and phosphate supplementation with recovery in 7 days.

Conclusion: Patients with severe DKA can develop AKI due to a number of possible causes, hypovolaemia being the most likely primary cause. Appropriate management of hypovolemia and electrolyte disturbance in these patients can be very challenging. These cases highlight the importance of early recognition of AKI (rising plasma creatinine, oliguria, haematuria) and discussion with paediatric nephrologist to formulate individualised fluid therapy in order to prevent deterioration in renal function. It is uncertain if recent modification in fluid management of DKA has led to a change in the incidence of AKI.