Paeds Cases · endocrinology-diabetes-and-growth
Type 1 diabetes: diagnosis and initial management — structured clinical encounter
Structured encounter testing the diagnosis and first management of a six-year-old with a two-week history of thirst, polyuria and weight loss who is alert and not acidotic with a glucose of 22 mmol/L: confirming the diagnosis on glucose, excluding ketoacidosis at the bedside, naming the type with autoantibodies and C-peptide, starting subcutaneous basal-bolus insulin, delivering structured family education, and explaining the honeymoon phase and the rule that insulin is never stopped.
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This is a textbook presentation of new-onset type 1 diabetes at stage 3, the clinical onset, in a child who is alert and not acidotic. The task is to confirm the diagnosis quickly, exclude ketoacidosis so the correct pathway is chosen, start subcutaneous insulin, and begin the family education that lets the diabetes be managed at home. The type-defining tests are sent but do not delay treatment. [1]
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- [1]DiMeglio LA; Evans-Molina C; Oram RA Type 1 diabetes. Lancet, 2018.PMID 29916386
- [2]de Bock M; Agwu JC; et al International Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes Clinical Practice Consensus Guidelines 2024: Glycemic Targets. Horm Res Paediatr, 2024.PMID 39701064
- [3]Cengiz E; Danne T; et al International Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes Clinical Practice Consensus Guidelines 2024: Insulin and Adjunctive Treatments in Children and Adolescents with Diabetes. Horm Res Paediatr, 2024.PMID 39884261
- [4]Couper JJ; Haller MJ; et al ISPAD Clinical Practice Consensus Guidelines 2018: Stages of type 1 diabetes in children and adolescents. Pediatr Diabetes, 2018.PMID 30051639