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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2018. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Diabetes. Nov 15, 2018; 9(11): 199-205
Published online Nov 15, 2018. doi: 10.4239/wjd.v9.i11.199
Use of sodium bicarbonate and blood gas monitoring in diabetic ketoacidosis: A review
Mit P Patel, Ali Ahmed, Tharini Gunapalan, Sean E Hesselbacher
Mit P Patel, Ali Ahmed, Tharini Gunapalan, Sean E Hesselbacher, Department of Internal Medicine, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA 23501, United States
Sean E Hesselbacher, Medicine Service, Hampton Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Hampton, VA 23667, United States
Author contributions: All authors equally contributed to this paper with literature review and analysis, drafting and critical revision and editing, and final approval of the final version.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No potential conflicts of interest. No financial support.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Sean E Hesselbacher, FCCP, MD, Assistant Professor, Medicine Service, Hampton Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 100 Emancipation Drive, Hampton, VA 23667, United States. hesselse@evms.edu
Telephone: +1-757-7229961 Fax: +1-757-7283187
Received: July 22, 2018
Peer-review started: July 22, 2018
First decision: August 9, 2018
Revised: August 30, 2018
Accepted: October 9, 2018
Article in press: October 9, 2018
Published online: November 15, 2018
Processing time: 116 Days and 12.4 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: Serial arterial blood gas measurements and intravenous sodium bicarbonate are often used to assess and correct acidosis associated with diabetic ketoacidosis. The available literature, primarily in patients with mild to moderately severe acidosis, does not support the routine use of sodium bicarbonate. Additionally, arterial sampling for blood gas measurement may not be necessary, nor does it appear to substantially add to the care of these patients. While neither intervention may be needed on a routine basis, there are special circumstances when either, or both, of these modalities is indicated and useful.