The effect of oral nutrition on diabetic ketoacidosis resolution time: Retrospective Cohort study

Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a serious disease that requires urgent and aggressive intervention. Although the medical treatments and protocols are well established, the role of oral nutrition during DKA treatment remains unclear. We aimed to evaluate the effect of oral nutritional status on the resolution rate of DKA.

This retrospective cohort study is a single-centre study consisting of patients who were admitted with a diagnosis of DKA and were followed up in the ward. Patients were divided into two groups based on their oral nutrition status. The first group consisted of patients who received open oral nutrition during DKA treatment. The second group consisted of patients whose oral feeding was stopped until DKA resolved. Factors such as diabetes-related characteristics, DKA resolution time, and length of hospital stay were compared between the groups. The Chi-square test and Mann-Whitney U test were used for comparisons between groups.

Of the 51 DKA patients evaluated, 29 were in the open oral feeding group, while there were 22 patients in the oral feeding stopped group. The recovery time for DKA was 9.9 ± 9.1 h in the oral nutrition group and 20.2 ± 13.7 h in the oral nutrition stopped group (p < 0.001). The mean length of hospital stay was 5.9 ± 3.3 days in the oral nutrition group and 7.4 ± 5.9 days in the oral nutrition stopped group (p = 0.346). The mean anion gap normalization time was 12.5 ± 8.6 h in the open oral feeding group and, 22.6 ± 14 h in the oral feeding stopped group (p < 0.001).

Oral nutrition until DKA resolves allows the patient to recover more quickly and have a shorter hospital stay. These findings suggest a relationship between oral nutrition and faster DKA recovery.