What Is Diabetic Ketoacidosis?
5. Diagnosis Criteria
Diabetic ketoacidosis can be distinguished from other diabetes-related emergencies due to the large amounts of ketones in both the urine and blood along with marked metabolic acidosis. Ketoacidosis does not only occur in diabetes but also in starvation and excess alcohol consumption.
The American Diabetes Association has divided diabetic ketoacidosis into 3 stages of severity. Mild cases have an alert patient, mildly decreased blood pH between 7.25 to 7.30, and decreased serum bicarbonate between 15-18 mmol/l. In moderate cases, the patient may be mildly drowsy with a blood pH between 7.00 to 7.25 and bicarbonate levels between 10-15 mmol/l. In severe cases, the patient may experience stupor or coma with a blood pH below 7.00 and bicarbonate levels below 10 mmol/l.
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