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Management of "brittle" diabetes with a preprogrammable implanted insulin pump delivering intraperitoneal insulin
D F Wood1, K Goodchild, P Guillou
1Department of Clinical Endocrinology, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, St Mary's Hospital Medical School, London.
Objective:
Glycaemic control in a young woman with "brittle" diabetes.
Design:
Use of a preprogrammable fully implanted pump (Infusaid) to deliver insulin intraperitoneally at variable rates, giving a total dose of about 60 units/24 h.
Setting:
Endocrinology department in a teaching hospital.
Patient:
Thirty year old woman with 15 years' history of "brittle" diabetes.
Main Outcome Measures:
Glycated haemoglobin concentration; plasma glucose concentration.
Results:
After implantation of the pump there was an immediate and sustained improvement in diabetic control. The patient's glycated haemoglobin concentration decreased from 15.2% to 9.2% over seven months. Her daily glucose concentrations were in the range 3.5-12 mmol/l. She has not been admitted to hospital since implantation of the pump, which was eight months before the time of writing.
Conclusion:
The implanted programmable intraperitoneal insulin pump may be of value in the management of patients with "brittle" diabetes in whom other attempts at glycaemic control have failed.