Doctors at the Special Newborn Care Unit (SNCU), Tirupathur Government Hospital, successfully treated a 24-day-old baby girl who was diagnosed with diabetic ketoacidosis and acute renal failure, and was brought in a critical state to the hospital last week. Doctors claim this is a rare presentation during the newborn period.
The baby girl, daughter of Sivaranjini from Tirupathur, was born in Vellore Medical College Hospital, Adukamparai. Though her birth weight was 2.8 kg, it dropped to 1.78 kg and the parents complained that the child was feeding poorly and suffered from breathlessness.
She was brought to the SNCU last Sunday, and doctors R. Senthil Kumaran, nodal officer of the unit and Shakti Ganesan, paediatrician, checked the child’s condition. They also checked with S. Srinivasan, state nodal officer, SNCU and took his guidance for treating the child.
“The child’s blood sugar level was around 700 mg/dl; her kidney was also in the process of shutting down and she was severely dehydrated. It was diabetic ketoacidosis. We immediately administered insulin through intravenously and slowly, her blood sugar levels started dropping,” said R. Senthil Kumaran, nodal officer.
Subsequently the baby’s renal parameters started improving and the blood urea levels also reduced. “She was brought out from her critical condition on February 23. Now, the child is taking oral feeds and is recuperating,” he added.
Dr. Kumaran said that this was a rare presentation in the newborn period. This condition could have been caused by faulty feeding, like introducing artificial feeds during the newborn period, leading to renal injury. Another reason could be low insulin levels in the baby during birth, he said.
