Young children with diabetes can be treated as effectively with a portable insulin pump as with multiple daily insulin injections, researchers report

Dr. Linda A. DiMeglio and colleagues from Indiana University, Indianapolis, studied 42 diabetic preschoolers who were either treated with continuous insulin infusion using an insulin pump or by intensive insulin injection therapy. The investigators compared control of blood sugar levels, safety, and parents’ satisfaction in the two groups.

A total of 37 children completed 6 months of therapy, including 17 on injection therapy and 20 on pump therapy.

Blood glucose control did not differ significantly between the two groups, according to the results of the study published in the Journal of Pediatrics.

The number of episodes of abnormally low blood sugar was higher in the group using pumps than in those on injection therapy, but both groups experienced one instance of a seizure due to this condition.

Parents were happy with pump therapy, and 95 percent of families continued on the treatment beyond the 6 months.

“It remains to be seen whether the benefit of insulin pump therapy in terms of flexibility and convenience justifies the increased costs for very young children with diabetes,” the researchers conclude.

“Studies of long-term outcomes of children begun on pump therapy at very young ages also are needed,” they add.

SOURCE: Journal of Pediatrics, September 2004.