DIABETIC-KETOACIDOSIS IN CHILDREN IN KHARTOUM-CITY, SUDAN

Ninety episodes of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) in 72 Sudanese children seen during a one year period were investigated. The age of the patie nts ranged from 3 to 16 years with a median of 12 years. Twenty -two e pisodes (24%) occurred in newly diagnosed patients and 68 (76%) in pre viously known diabetic children. The mean observation period defined a s the number of days from each one of the episodes until next episode or end of survey divided by the total number of the episodes was 180 d ays. During this short period of observation 18 recurrent episodes wer e observed giving an annual recurrent rate of 40%. The classical triad of polyuria, polydipsia and weight loss was a presentation in 83 (92% ) episodes; acute abdominal pain and/or vomiting were observed in 69 ( 77%) episodes and drowsiness or deep coma was seen in 31 (34%) episode s. The most common precipitating causes of DKA in the studied patients with known diabetes were acute infections accounting for 38% of episo des, insulin non-availability for 34 % of episodes and errors of treat ment for 25%. The outcome of treatment in the whole group was good in the 69 (96%) patients who recovered without complications, but 3 (4%) patients died.