Diabetic Ketoacidosis
Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA) potentially life-threatening complication of diabetes mellitus resulting from the consequences of insulin deficiency
Category CCC
The LITFL Critical Care Compendium is a comprehensive collection of pages concisely covering the core topics and controversies of critical care.
Calcium Metabolism
Calcium: highly regulated cation
involved in: cell death, duration and strength of cardiac muscle contraction, muscle contraction in blood vessels, airways and uterus, coagulation, bone metabolism, neurotransmitter and hormone release…
Urinary Electrolytes
Urinary Electrolytes: used in the diagnosis of a number of electrolyte disturbances in ICU (especially when intake of electrolytes is known and relatively controlled)
SIADH
Syndrome Of Inappropriate ADH secretion (SIADH) is hyponatraemia due to an increase in concentration of ADH inappropriate to the current osmotic or volume status. The differential diagnosis includes ADH analogues
Hyponatraemia
Hyponatraemia: common problem in ICU (30% of patients have a Na < 134mmol/L). Independent predictor of mortality in ICU
Hypophosphataemia
Hypophosphataemia: Phosphate - important intracellular anion; 85% is stored in bone as hydroxyapapitie crystals, 14% in soft tissues, 1% in blood
Hypokalaemia
Hypokalaemia: the most common electrolyte abnormality in hospitalised patients; mostly caused by drugs and GI disease
Hypocalcaemia
Hypocalcaemia: Reduced intake; redistribution and increased output
Hypernatraemia
Hypernatraemia can be caused by a number of critical illnesses: water depletion (decreased intake, hypotonic fluid loss – renal/non-renal); solute excess (Na+ or other)
Hyperkalaemia Management
Hyperkalaemia is a life-threatening emergency. Basic overview of hyperkalemia management
Hypercalcaemia
Ca2+ exists in the extracellular plasma two states: (1) free ionized state and (2) bound to other molecules (mostly albumin, rest – beta-globulins, phosphate, citrate)
ionized Ca2+ concentration is inversely related to pH -> an increase in pH results in a decrease in ionized Ca2+
Clostridium difficile and PMC
Pseudomembranous colitis (PMC); acute inflammatory disease of colon commonly associated with antibiotic use; C. difficile implicated as a causative organism in 1970’s