Abstract

We evaluated 21 patients with the diagnosis of diabetic ketoacidosis, involving 25 admissions to a large private community hospital, to evaluate the efficacy of low-dose insulin therapy by measuring time required for correction of hyperglycemia and acidosis, and to evaluate any associated morbidity or mortality. The protocols and laboratory tests were relatively loose and less stringent than our previous protocols, to permit flexibility of therapy by various physicians and to simulate the prevailing practice in such a hospital. All patients responded with correction of hyperglycemia within nine hours and acidosis within 12 hours, with averages of 5.61 and 6.8 hours, respectively. No deaths were recorded in the group. From these data, it is apparent that the low-dose insulin regimen is a safe, effective, and practical method for therapy of DKA in the private community hospital.