Research objective: Studying the local characteristics of ketoacidosis, comparing it with medical literature in other societies, and develop an educational and treatment plan for doctors dealing with diabetics, patients, and their families, which will improve the results of managing this acute complication and preventing its occurrence.
Methods and materials: The study sample included 201 patients with ketoacidosis admitted to the endocrinology department of Damascus Hospital (Al-Mujtahid) between 2019 and 2024. We conducted a descriptive, retrospective cross-sectional observational study of the files of patients who met the exclusion and inclusion criteria.
Results: Ketoacidosis was the diagnosing manifestation of diabetes in 19 patients (9.45%), while the distribution of the sample according to gender, females: males, was 1.2: 1, and the average age of the patients was 42.6 ± 14.3 years, with the vast majority of patients between 20-39 years, and the first type was Diabetes was the most common in our study at a rate of 66.2%, and insulin was the most common treatment used to lower blood sugar in the study sample at a rate of 69.7% of patients previously diagnosed with diabetes. As for the prevalence of symptoms, they were: abdominal pain 84.1%, followed by diarrhea 82.6%, then fatigue and general weakness 72.1 %, fever, diarrhea, dyspnea, urinary heartburn, and vomiting, and when studying the factors inciting ketoacidosis, infection in general was the most common, followed by non-adherence to treatment, then systemic distress, then diabetes diagnosed for the first time, and 6% of patients had an unknown cause, noting that the urinary tract The most common site of infection was 66.2%, followed by respiratory infection 29.9%, gastrointestinal infection 23.9%, and dental abscess 19.4%.
Conclusion: Our study showed a slight tendency for acidosis to occur in females, and more likely in patients with type 1 diabetes. It presents with symptoms, the most common of which are abdominal pain and vomiting, and that one of its most important causes in our region is sepsis, especially urinary tract infection.