Background: Numerous advancements in diabetes care have been made over the past 20 years. Few studies discussed the outcome and predictors of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) necessitating admission to intensive care units (ICU). We, therefore, performed a retrospective analysis of DKA patients admitted to King Saud Medical City's ICU between August 2022 and August 2023 to examine trends in outcome and predictors.
Method: Patients with DKA episodes who visited the emergency room at King Saud Medical City in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, between August 2022 and August 2023 were included in this retrospective analysis. Every adult patient, who met the American Diabetes Association's requirements for DKA diagnosis and was at least 18 years old, was included.
Results In the final analysis, we included 218 patients with DKA, of whom 56 (25.6) were under ICU care. The patients admitted to the ICU had higher BMI and were more likely to be male than non-ICU patients, they were also having advanced age. DKA patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) had a higher likelihood of ICU admission than those with T1D. In patients with DKA needed ICU care, WBC counts were higher, as were urea level, and CRP. Compared to patients who did not need ICU admission, those who needed to be admitted had lower venous pH level and bicarbonate levels. Furthermore, 3.5% of ICU-admitted patients died in hospital, compared to 0 deaths among non-ICU admitted patients.
Conclusion: Of all patients with DKA, 25.6% needed ICU. Some factors that indicate a patient's likelihood of needing an ICU were; T2DM, advanced age, an infectious cause, newly diagnosed diabetes, and moderate or severe DKA.
Key words: Diabetic ketoacidosis, intensive care unit, outcome, predictors
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