AbstractDiabetic coma is a reversible form of coma [1] found in people with diabetes mellitus. It is a medical emergency. Two different types of hyperglycaemic states are identified: 1) Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) and 2) Hyperglycemic Hyperosmolar State(HHS). Hyperglycemic emergencies continue to be important causes of morbidity and mortality among patients with diabetes. The cause of death in patients with DKA and HHS rarely results from the metabolic complications of hyperglycemia or metabolic acidosis but rather relates to the underlying medical illness that precipitated the metabolic decompensation. Thus, successful treatment
requires a prompt and careful search for the precipitating cause (s). A study done by Osuntokun et al [2]in 1971 in Ibadan reported DKA as the single major cause of death in diabetics. Necropsy studies carried out 5 years later in Ibadan by Smith and Adetuyibi [3] showed that 43% of deaths in acute decompensated diabetics were due to DKA. A mortality rate of 60% for HHS was reported from IleIfe in 2000 by Kolawole and Ajayi [4]. A study for this Diabetic Coma in India is untouched, this study is to fill the lacuna in that regard finding the factors associated with outcome and on emphasis on the determinants of outcome.