Invited Commentary

Commentary on "Longitudinal Trends in the Prevalence of Diabetes Mellitus in an Urban Emergency Department"

Authors: Amy A. Ernst, MD

Abstract

As emergency medicine physicians, we often encounter patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). These patients present with a variety of continuing problems, including episodic hyperglycemia, hypoglycemia from medication errors (mostly oral agents), diabetic-related infections of the limbs, pain management problems caused by diabetic neuropathy, bladder dysfunction, blindness, and renal insufficiency.1,2 Diabetic patients require the use of significant resources, time, and effort from the entire hospital system.

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References

1. Corwell B, Knight B, Olivieri L, et al. Current diagnosis and treatment of hyperglycemic emergencies. Emerg Med Clin North Am 2014;32: 437-452.
 
2. National diabetes fact sheet 2015. Fast facts data and statistics about diabetes. http://professional2.diabetes.org/admin/UserFiles/0%20-%20Sean/Documents/Fast_Facts_12-2015a.pdf. Published December 2015. Accessed January 18, 2016.
 
3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2014 national diabetes statistics report. http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/data/statistics/2014statisticsreport.html. Published May 15, 2015. Accessed January 18, 2016.
 
4. Sterling SA, Jones AE, CoxRD. Longitudinal trends in the prevalence of diabetes mellitus in an urban emergency department. South Med J 2016;109:222-227.
 
5. Orlando MS, Rothman RE, Woodfield A, et al. Public health information delivery in the emergency department: analysis of a kiosk-based program. J Emerg Med 2016;50:223-227.
 
6. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Number of emergency department visits (in thousands) with diabetes as any-listed diagnosis, all ages, United States, 2006-2009. http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/statistics/emergency/fig1.htm. Accessed January 18, 2016.