University Pediatric Case Study: Diabetes Mellitus Analysis

This case study presents a 7-year-old girl exhibiting symptoms of nocturnal polyuria and rapid weight loss, leading to an investigation of potential hyperglycemic conditions. The analysis differentiates between diabetes insipidus and diabetes mellitus, concluding the patient likely has the latter due to elevated blood glucose levels. The case study details diagnostic assessments, including the significance of polyuria, increased thirst, and laboratory tests revealing high glucose and ketone levels, indicating hyperglycemia. It further explores acute complications such as diabetic ketoacidosis and chronic complications like diabetic nephropathy, neuropathy, and retinopathy. The study emphasizes the impact of hyperglycemia on child development and recommends educational interventions for both the child and family to manage the condition effectively, promoting normal growth and development.

Running head: PEDIATRIC CASE STUDY
PEDIATRIC CASE STUDY
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1PEDIATRIC CASE STUDY
Answer 1.
Nocturnal polyuria and a rapid weight loss are a significant symptom of mainly two
disease conditions, the first one is diabetes insipidus and diabetes mellitus (Lu, 2017).
Diabetes insipidus can be described as a disease condition that results from the impaired
function of the kidneys and there no imbalance of blood glucose level that can be found in the
blood of these individuals. However, diabetes mellitus condition is closely associated with a
high level of glucose in blood of an individual (Lu, 2017). The seven year old girl, who were
presented in this case scenario can be considered to have the diabetes mellitus condition and
not diabetes insipidus, since her blood glucose level was higher than normal range.
Answer 2.
There are many laboratory assessments along with the clinical manifestations are to
be considered before diagnosing the hyperglycaemia condition in a child. The frequent urge
to pee (polyuria) along with an increased thirst are considered to be most common clinical
manifestations in the children with diabetes condition or hyperglycaemia condition (Mouri &
Badireddy, 2019). The laboratory test are expected to suggest a high blood glucose level in
the patients. The laboratory tests focused on discovering ketone levels in the blood are also
taken into consideration, during the diagnostic evaluations (Mouri & Badireddy, 2019). Thus
in this case study the girl can be considered to have a hyperglycaemia condition, considering
she had a nocturnal polyuria condition along with high serum glucose level and 1+ ketone in
her serum.
Answer 3.
One of the main acute complication associated with the hyperglycaemia condition in
the children is the diabetic ketoacidosis (Gosmanov, Gosmanova & Kitabchi, 2018). This is
an acute condition that results in a significant decrease in the pH of the blood, which makes

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the blood acidic. A hyperglycaemia condition arise in the patients because of a low
availability or a complete unavailability of the insulin in the body of an individual. The
glucose get accumulated in the blood and becomes unavailable to the cells. Thus body starts
to use the fat as energy resource and as a result ketoacidosis occurs (Gosmanov, Gosmanova
& Kitabchi, 2018).
An important chronic complication resulting from hyperglycaemia is the diabetes
mellitus condition. There are also risks of diabetic nephropathy, neuropathy and retinopathy
in the children with hyperglycaemic conditions (Mouri & Badireddy, 2019).
Answer 4.
Hyperglycaemia condition or diabetes condition can seriously affect the growth and
development of a child. The children with diabetes have a slower growth rate and they also
have a slower progression through the stages of the life (Giannini, Mohn & Chiarelli, 2014).
Thus the blood sugar level in them should be kept under strict control in order to promote a
normal growth rate and development in those children. The developmental approach that
should be used in this scenario will be providing the child a proper teaching on the
management of her hyperglycaemia condition. An education regarding the health condition of
the child along with the disease management strategies should also be provided to the family
in order to invite a better health outcome in the child (T Markowitz, Garvey & MB Laffel,
2015).

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References:
Giannini, C., Mohn, A., & Chiarelli, F. (2014). Growth abnormalities in children with type 1
diabetes, juvenile chronic arthritis, and asthma. International journal of
endocrinology, 2014.
Gosmanov, A. R., Gosmanova, E. O., & Kitabchi, A. E. (2018). Hyperglycemic crises:
diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), and hyperglycemic hyperosmolar state (HHS).
In Endotext [Internet]. MDText. com, Inc..
Lu, H. J. (2017). Diabetes insipidus. In Aquaporins (pp. 213-225). Springer, Dordrecht.
Mouri, M., & Badireddy, M. (2019). Hyperglycemia. In StatPearls [Internet]. StatPearls
Publishing.
T Markowitz, J., C Garvey, K., & MB Laffel, L. (2015). Developmental changes in the roles
of patients and families in type 1 diabetes management. Current diabetes
reviews, 11(4), 231-238.