Loading...
Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) accounts for more than 100,000 hospital admissions in the U.S. yearly, with estimated costs exceeding $1 billion. Previous studies have shown limited value of DKA protocols, but the studies were limited by poor protocol adherence, suboptimal timing or quantity of insulin and fluid administration, and focus on individual components of therapy rather than on the entire treatment regimen. These authors evaluated the effects of a comprehensive mandatory protocol for treating critically ill DKA patients on hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) length of stay, time to ketone and anion gap clearances, and incidence of hypoglycemia.
They reviewed the charts of consecutive patients treated before (131 patients) and after …