|Classification and external resources|
Alcoholic ketoacidosis is a common reason for admission of alcohol dependent persons in hospitals emergency rooms. The term refers to a metabolic acidosis syndrome caused by increased ketone levels in serum. Glucose concentration is usually normal or a little lower.
In 1940, Drs Edward S. Dillon, W. Wallace, and Leon S. Smelo, first described alcoholic ketoacidosis as a distinct syndrome. They stated that "because of the many and complex factors, both physiologic and pathologic, which influence the acid-base balance of the body, a multitude of processes may bring about the state of acidosis as an end result."
In 1971, David W. Jenkins and colleagues described cases of three non‐diabetic patients with a history of chronic heavy alcohol misuse and recurrent episodes of ketoacidosis. This group also proposed a possible underlying mechanism for this metabolic disturbance, naming it alcoholic ketoacidosis.
Patients regularly report nausea, vomiting, and pain in abdomen which are the most commonly observed complaints. This syndrome is rapidly reversible and, if taken care of has a low mortality. Other patients present tachypnoea, tachycardia, and hypotension.
The main differences between patients with diabetic ketoacidosis is that patients with alcoholic ketoacidosis are usually alert and lucid despite the severity of the acidosis and marked ketonaemia.
- Dillon, E.; Dyer, W. Wallace; Smelo, L. S. (November 1940). "Ketone Acidosis in Nondiabetic Adults". Medical Clinics of North America. 24 (6): 1813–1822. doi:10.1016/S0025-7125(16)36653-6.
- Jenkins, David W.; Eckel, Robert E.; Craig, James W. (12 July 1971). "Alcoholic Ketoacidosis". JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association. 217 (2): 177. doi:10.1001/jama.1971.03190020037007.
- Wrenn, KD; Slovis, CM; Minion, GE; Rutkowski, R (August 1991). "The syndrome of alcoholic ketoacidosis". The American Journal of Medicine. 91 (2): 119–28. PMID 1867237.
- McGuire, L C (1 June 2006). "Alcoholic ketoacidosis". Emergency Medicine Journal. 23 (6): 417–420. doi:10.1136/emj.2004.017590. PMC 2564331.
- Brutsaert, Erika F. "Alcoholic Ketoacidosis". Merck Manual. Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. Retrieved 2 February 2018.