Diabetic-ketoacidosis in a nine-year-old child with homozygous sickle cell anaemia: a rare case report

Sickle cell anaemia (SCA) and type 1 diabetes mellitus (type 1 DM) are chronic medical conditions whose co-existence is uncommon in childhood. Furthermore, complications of SCA such as mesenteric crisis typically present with abdominal pain, which is also common in children with diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) and this may possess diagnostic challenge. Herewith in, we report a rare case of a nine-year-old child with homozygous sickle cell anaemia, who presented with features of mesenteric crisis and diabetic ketoacidosis. The DKA was diagnosed based on the presence of hyperglycaemia (32.2 mmol/L), ketonaemia (4.6 mmol/L) and acidosis (11.6 mmol/L). The fluids deficit was corrected over 24 hours, with improvement in the vaso-occlusive crises (VOC) without precipitating cerebral oedema.