Treatment of diabetic ketoacidosis by endocrinologists versus nonendocrinologists: patterns in laboratory usage and length of stay.

We report a study contrasting the treatment of diabetic ketoacidosis in a teaching hospital by physicians trained in endocrinology as compared to those internists who have not been trained specifically in that specialty. Parameters studied included patterns of laboratory usage and length of hospital stay. The period of hospitalization was similar in the two groups: 5.17 days in the group treated by endocrinologists, as compared to 5.00 days for those treated by nonendocrinologists. However, the total number, as well as the average number per patient per hospital day, of laboratory tests and x-ray procedures was notably increased in the endocrinologists group as compared to the nonendocrinologist group: 52.99 to 45.28 and 10.25 to 9.06, respectively.