Potassium Disorders in Diabetic Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease and Poor Glycemic Control Associated with Hyperkalemia: A Single Center Cross-sectional Study

Objective: To determine the incidence of hyperkalemia in diabetic patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD).Also, to establish the effect of blood sugar control and duration of DM and CKD on the development ofhyperkalemia in this group of patients.Study Design: Cross-sectional study.Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted at Nephrology Outpatient Department (OPD), LiaquatNational Hospital Karachi, Pakistan over one year from January 2022 to December 2022.Methods: Data were collected from endocrine and nephrology outpatient departments. Blood analysis wasperformed for serum potassium, HbA1C level, and serum creatinine level. SPSS version 21 was used to analyzethe data.Results: One hundred and fifty-six (156) patients were included in this study. Ninty (90) patients were males &66 patients were females. Hyperkalemia was noted in ninety patients (57.6%) with a serum potassium level of5.8±0.1 mg/dl in these patients and was seen predominantly in male patients. The mean HbA1c level was9.288+1.185%. However, no significant relationship between the duration of diabetes and hyperkalemia wasfound. Most patients had stage IV CKD. Also, hyperkalemia is most commonly seen in stage IV CKD followed bystage V CKD. No significant relationship between the duration of CKD and hyperkalemia was found. Sixty-fivepercent (65%) of patients were taking medications that could lead to hyperkalemia and ACE/ARB were the mostcommonly used drugs followed by NSAIDs and diuretics.Conclusion: Patients with diabetes mellitus with CKD were found at significantly increased risk of hyperkalemiaimportantly, patients with stage IV &V CKD and those who had poor glycemic control.