Insulin Pumps More Effective than Injections for Children with Diabetes

Insulin pumps are more effective in controlling blood sugar than injections in children with diabetes, a latest study claims.

According to the study conducted on 345 Australian children, pump therapy showed more positive results than insulin injections. The researchers studied these diabetic children for seven years and found that insulin pumps significantly lowered episodes of dangerously low blood glucose (hypoglycaemia) from 14.7 to 7.2 events per 100 patients every year. The results also showed that the rate of diabetic ketoacidosis, a dangerous insulin shortage, was also notably reduced among pump users at 2.3 per 100 compared to 4.7.

"Our data confirm that insulin pump therapy provides an improvement in glycaemic control which is sustained for at least seven years," associate professor Elizabeth Davis of the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, Perth, Australia, said.

Insulin pump therapy has been used increasingly over time for children due to its availability and enhanced technology. However, experts said they were not too sure of the results.

"Children and adolescents with poor control had the greatest reduction in HbA1c with insulin pump therapy. Although this is not a randomised trial, it is 'real life' experience in a large population based sample over a prolonged time period and as such provides important information," Davis said.

The research team also found that among the study children, 38 stopped the treatment during the course of the study. This might be because children were concerned more about their physical appearance, the authors noted.

Previous research on insulin pump therapy said that one model of insulin pump was found to reduce nocturnal hypoglycemia without affecting glycated hemoglobin levels.