• Rashid Naseem Khan, Farhana Saba, Syedhh Fatima Kausar, and Muhammad Hassan Siddiqui.
• Dr. Rashid Naseem Khan, MBBS, MCPS, MD. Principal, Consultant Physician, Liaquat College of Medicine and Dentistry and Darul Sehat Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan.
• Pak J Med Sci. 2019 Jan 1; 35 (3): 797801797-801.

ObjectiveTo determine frequency of electrolyte imbalance including sodium, chloride, potassium and magnesium levels present in patients with uncontrolled diabetes at a tertiary care hospital in Karachi.MethodsThis was a descriptive cross sectional study conducted at Medicine Department, Darul Sehat Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan from March 2017 to October 2017. A total of one hundred and eighty one admitted and OPD patients with uncontrolled diabetes (HbA1c more than 7%) were included and their demographics, comorbidities, microvascular complications, drug history, fasting and random blood glucose and serum electrolyte levels were recorded.ResultsIn uncontrolled diabetes mellitus, decrease in serum sodium and chloride levels were observed to be statistically highly significant (p-value less than or equal to 0.05) while that of potassium and magnesium showed insignificant alterations. Sodium level was also observed to decline with increasing pattern of urine for microalbumin.ConclusionElectrolyte imbalance is markedly present in patients with uncontrolled blood sugars therefore serum electrolytes should be routinely measured in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Serum fasting blood glucose can be used as a predictor for electrolytes.

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