Pathophysiology of cerebral injury in DKA

Dr. Nicole Glaser is the Chief of Pediatric Endocrinology and a professor of Pediatrics at UC Davis Children's Hospital. She is recognized as an international expert in pediatric diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), an important complication of diabetes in children. She has led many of the key multi-center studies that guide DKA management. She has also been involved in the development of several national and international guidelines for DKA management in children that guide current practice worldwide.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this podcast, listeners should be able to:

• Describe best practices for triaging patients with DKA
• Explain the pathophysiology of acute cerebral edema in DKA
• Describe the evidence and physiologic basis for fluid selection and rate in DKA 
• Describe the evidence supporting insulin infusion rates in pediatric DKA 
• List best practices for lab monitoring in DKA, and how to define when a patient is ready for transition to subcutaneous insulin 

References: 

1. Abramo TJ, Szlam S, Hargrave H, Harris ZL, Williams A, Meredith M, Hedrick M, Hu Z, Nick T, Gonzalez CV. Bihemispheric Cerebral Oximetry Monitoring's Functionality in Suspected Cerebral Edema Diabetic Ketoacidosis With Therapeutic 3% Hyperosmolar Therapy in a Pediatric Emergency Department. Pediatr Emerg Care. 2022 Feb 1;38(2):e511-e518. doi: 10.1097/PEC.0000000000001774. PMID: 30964851.
2. Kuppermann N, Ghetti S, Schunk J, et al. Clinical Trial of Fluid Infusion Rates for Pediatric Diabetic Ketoacidosis. N Engl J Med. 2018;378:2275-2287.
3. Glaser N, Barnett P, McCaslin I, et al. Risk factors for cerebral edema in children with diabetic ketoacidosis. N Engl J Med. 2001;344:264-269.
4. Bergmann KR, Abuzzahab MJ, Perepelista V, Udeogu J, Qiu L, Lammers S, Nickel A, Watson D, Kharbanda A. Improving Emergency Department Care for Children With Medium- and High-Risk Diabetic Ketoacidosis. Pediatrics. 2025 Oct 1;156(4):e2024068959. doi: 10.1542/peds.2024-068959. PMID: 40907982.
5. UC-Davis-Health-Magazine-Fall-2019.pdf

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Please remember that all content during this episode is intended for educational and entertainment purposes only. It should not be used as medical advice. The views expressed during this episode by hosts and our guests are their own and do not reflect the official position of their institutions. If you have any comments, suggestions, or feedback-you can email us at pedscritpodcast@gmail.com. You can also check out our website at http://www.pedscrit.com. Thank you for listening to this episode of PedsCrit!