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Review
. 2020 Jul 15;21(1):276.
doi: 10.1186/s12882-020-01930-6.

Severe euglycemic diabetic ketoacidosis of multifactorial etiology in a type 2 diabetic patient treated with empagliflozin: case report and literature review

Erasmia Sampani  1 , Pantelis Sarafidis  2 , Chrysostomos Dimitriadis  1 , Efstratios Kasimatis  1 , Dimitra Daikidou  1 , Konstantinos Bantis  1 , Alexios Papanikolaou  3 , Aikaterini Papagianni  1
Affiliations
Review

Severe euglycemic diabetic ketoacidosis of multifactorial etiology in a type 2 diabetic patient treated with empagliflozin: case report and literature review

Erasmia Sampani et al. BMC Nephrol. .

Abstract

Background: Sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors are a relatively novel class of oral medications for the treatment of Type 2 DM with a generally acceptable safety profile. However, these agents have been associated with rare events of a serious and potentially life-threatening complication named euglycemic diabetic ketoacidosis (euDKA). euDKA is not identical with the typical diabetic ketoacidosis, as it often presents with serious metabolic acidosis but only mild to moderate glucose and anion gap elevation.

Case presentation: We report a case of a 51-year old female with Type 2 DM treated with an SGLT-2 inhibitor, developing severe metabolic acidosis with only mild blood glucose elevation after a routine surgery. A careful evaluation of involved factors led to the diagnosis of euDKA, followed by cautious application of simple therapeutic measures that resulted in complete restoration of acidosis and glycemic control in less than 48-h.

Conclusions: Euglycemic ketoacidosis is a rare but rather serious complication of SGLT-2 inhibitors use, often with a multifactorial etiology. Its atypical presentation requires a high level of awareness by physicians as early recognition of this complication can quickly and safely restore acid-base balance.

Keywords: Euglycemic diabetic ketoacidosis; SGLT-2 inhibitors; Type 2 diabetes mellitus.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors disclose that they don’t have any financial or other relationships, which might lead to a conflict of interest.

References

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