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Alcoholic Ketoacidosis

By

Erika F. Brutsaert

, MD, New York Medical College

Reviewed/Revised Oct 2023
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People who consume a lot of alcohol during one occasion often vomit repeatedly and stop eating. If the vomiting and starvation go on for a day or more, the liver's normal stores of sugar (glucose) decrease. The low glucose stores combined with lack of food intake cause low blood glucose levels. The low blood glucose levels decrease insulin secretion. Without insulin, most cells cannot get energy from the glucose that is in the blood. Cells still need energy to survive, so they switch to a back-up mechanism to obtain energy. Fat cells begin breaking down, producing compounds called ketones. Ketones provide some energy to cells but also make the blood too acidic (ketoacidosis). This ketoacidosis is similar to the ketoacidosis that occurs in diabetes except that, unlike in diabetic ketoacidosis Diabetic Ketoacidosis Diabetic ketoacidosis is an acute complication of diabetes that occurs mostly in type 1 diabetes mellitus. Symptoms of diabetic ketoacidosis include nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and a characteristic... read more , blood glucose levels are low.

Symptoms of Alcoholic Ketoacidosis

Diagnosis of Alcoholic Ketoacidosis

  • Blood and urine tests

Doctors base the diagnosis on the characteristic symptoms and their relation to alcohol abuse combined with laboratory test results that show increased amounts of ketones and acid in the bloodstream but normal or low blood glucose levels.

Treatment of Alcoholic Ketoacidosis

  • Thiamine and other vitamins and minerals given by vein

  • Intravenous saline and glucose

To treat alcoholic ketoacidosis, doctors give people thiamine (vitamin B1) by vein (intravenously) followed by intravenous saline and glucose solution. Other vitamins and minerals, such as magnesium, are added to the saline solution.

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