Building Competency in Diabetes Education THE ESSENTIALS

BASAL-BOLUS INSULIN THERAPY | 12-14

diabetes may be associated with transient worsening of retinopathy during the first 12 months of this improvement (10,27).

Lipohypertrophy Lipohypertrophy is characterized by a fatty growth at or around an injection site. It is a common complication of insulin therapy (36). There is an increased risk of developing it with repeated use of the same needle for injections and/or using a smaller than postcard size site for injections. Patients need to be taught how to prevent lipohypertrophy with proper injection technique, including site rotation, one time use of needle and avoidance of affected areas. An international survey on insulin injection technique found that 47% of the 4,352 participants with type 1 and type 2 diabetes had lipohypertrophy, of whom 28% did not recall ever having their injection sites checked (37). Research has shown with proper site rotation and injection technique, lipohypertrophy can either shrink by about 50% or completely disappear (36). Other improvements noted were a decreased A1C and total daily dose of insulin.

.