Diabetics treated with continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion pumps

Sixteen insulin-dependent diabetics commenced continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) pumps either because of poor control (15 patients), or because of preference (1 patient). The study examined the diabetic control achieved, patients attitudes and CSII pump complications. Statistically significant improvements in HbAlC which fell from a pre-treatment mean of 12.57% to 10.0% at three months (p less than 0.01) and 10.6% at six months (p less than 0.02) were achieved. At nine months the improvement was not statistically significant. Fourteen of the 16 patients wished at the end of one year to continue this treatment. This study reports a low rate of symptomatic hypoglycaemia and infusion site infection. However, there was a large number of cases of ketoacidosis which highlights the need for extreme vigilance in monitoring patients treated by this method.