Stress Hyperglycemia Secondary to Abdominal Emergency Mimicking Diabetic Ketoacidosis in a Pediatric Patient

Abstract

Abdominal pain in a pediatric patient with diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) can be mistaken for surgical or septic causes of acute abdomen. Both DKA and surgical abdominal emergencies can cause lactic acidosis (LA), which makes it challenging to differentiate between them. Fluid therapy resulting in quick alleviation of metabolic acidosis could be a valuable sign in differentiating surgical abdomen from DKA. In this report, we present a case of the surgical abdomen with stress hyperglycemia that mimicked DKA.