Clinical Pearls: Is it DKA or HHS?

Should be pretty straight forward, but even amongst seasoned providers this can sometimes be debatable. Especially when you don’t have all the labs back. Often we are called to admit a patient for DKA because they do not seem appropriate for a routine floor or even step-down ICU admission. The Internal Medicine/Hospitalist team may not feel comfortable taking a patient but on your evaluation they do not seem to be on the severe end of the spectrum. You aren’t alone, my friend. Let’s talk about admitting a DKA vs HHS patient and how you make a diagnosis.