Author Interviews, Diabetes, Kidney Disease, Pediatrics / 16.03.2017
Acute Kidney Injury Is A Frequent Complication of Pediatric Diabetic Ketoacidosis
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Constadina Panagiotopoulos, MD, FRCPC
Department of Pediatrics, Endocrinology & Diabetes Unit
British Columbia Children’s Hospital
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: I decided to conduct this study after observing a few cases of severe acute kidney injury (AKI) in children hospitalized with diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) (with two patients requiring dialysis) while on call in the 18 months prior to initiating the study. While caring for these patients, I scanned the literature and realized that aside from 2 published case reports, there had been no large-scale systematic studies assessing AKI in children with DKA. It immediately became apparent to me that managing patients with AKI and DKA was more challenging. On presentation to hospital, many of these children with DKA present quite volume depleted but fluid management is conservative because of the risk for cerebral edema.
One of the most important management strategies for acute kidney injury in patients with DKA is early detection and correcting volume depletion in a timely manner to prevent further injury. I discussed my observations and these clinical cases with pediatric nephrologist and co-investigator Dr. Cherry Mammen, a pediatric AKI expert, and he confirmed my initial literature review findings. Thus, we decided to conduct this study to better understand the scope of the problem and any associated risk factors.
(more…)