Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy
Clinical presentation of DKA may vary according to the severity and comorbid conditions. The symptoms of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) usually develop rapidly over 1 day or less and may include:
Patients may have tachycardia, poor skin turgor, dry mucous membranes, and orthostatic hypotension due to dehydration (1).
Deep (Kussmaul) respirations are seen as a compensatory mechanism for metabolic acidosis (1)
If severely ill, extreme cases may progress to shock, oliguria and anuria.
The breath may have a distinctive fruity smell - ketotic breath; however the ability to detect this smell is absent is a sizeable proportion of the population - and, by extrapolation, the medical population.
Mental status of patient may vary from confusion, drowsiness, progressive obtundation to loss of consciousness and coma (1,2)
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