Question

A 25-year-old male service member with blast-induced traumatic brain injury was recently admitted to the ER. This patient suffered from severe fatigue, dehydration, polydipsia, and polyuria. The only abnormal lab value found in the initial screening was a urine specific gravity of 1.002.

1. What disorder/disease process is most likely manifesting these symptoms in this patient? What is a possible alternative diagnosis?

Answer 1

The common symptoms of diabetes mellitus is fatigue, polyuria, polydipsia and polyphagia. The patient is suffering from diabetes mellitus(DM), as he  is showing the common symptoms of DM ,i.e fatigue,dehydration polydipsia and polyuria.

Reason for DM after brain injury- pituitary OR hypothalamic axis are vital for balancing glucose homeostasis by decreasing hepatic gluconeogenesis and by increasing insulin sensitivity. pituitary gland dysfunction/ injury directly lead to impaired glucose metabolism and act as a potential cause of hyper glycemia.

Alternative possible diagnosis may be renal damage as the lab value is showing abnormal urine specific gravity below than the normal level.