A 23 yo male with a hx of insulin dependent diabetes and recurrent admissions for DKA presents to the ED with complaints of diffuse body aches. He is acutely ill appearing, agitated, and combative with staff, demanding pain medication, entering other patients rooms, and screaming. Realizing that this patient is severely ill, you wonder how you will de-escalate or sedate this patient safely to enable life-saving care to be rendered.....

Treatment of diabetic ketoacidosis in the emergency department includes aggressive volume repletion and administration of insulin, however it is also extremely important to address electrolyte abnormalities…

You are treating a patient for diabetic ketoacidosis in the ED. Thing is, the patient isn't very ill and only has mild DKA (pH 7.25-7.3). Is starting a continuous insulin infusion and admitting the patient to an intensive care unit bed really the best use of resources? Read on for an alternative suggested regimen using subcutanoues doses of rapid acting insulin

For decades now, aggressive fluid replacement in pediatric DKA patients has been thought to contribute to cerebral edema and neurologic injury. This has resulted in a general policy of cautious fluid replacement with isotonic crystalloid, and perhaps even contributed to under-resuscitation of these patients. In this first large, randomized, prospective study to examine the role of type of fluid (0.9% NaCl vs 0.45% NaCl) and rate of administration, the hope was to detemine if type of fluid, rate of adminstration, or both were associated with cerebral edema and neurologic injury in this patient population. Read on for the key results of this practice changing paper!

A new class of medications for the management of diabetes (SGLT-2 inhibitors) is challenging our traditional notions of the diagnosis of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). Read on for quick pearls on when to suspect so called "euglycemic DKA" in the ED.