Injections not best route of insulin

Injections may not be the safest way of administering insulin for diabetic patients in India. A study on injection use and safety has found that four out of 10 injection users complained of pain, lesions and sores at the site.

The study found that only 30 per cent of Indian injectors get their sites checked annually. The sites are thighs, buttocks, abdomen and arm. Four out of five people who take injections have reported pain several times in a month.

Dr Srinivas Reddy, general physician said, “Most insulin injections are not painful. The pain occurs when the needle comes in direct contact with a nerve ending. Patient awareness of the use of injection is limited. They have to be taught how to use it properly and that they must alternate the sites and not use the same one regularly."

It has also been found that the pain due to injection is due to the length or diameter of the needle and the texture of the skin where the needle is injected. Cases of bleeding or bruising from the injection site were found in 41.4 per cent of the total 7,000 patients that were followed by the researchers. The bleeding was recorded in 53 per cent cases sometimes, and 7.8 per cent stated that it was several times in a week.

Doctors say Indian patients have to be trained in how to inject.

With doctors seeing more than 100 out-patients every day in both public and private hospitals, it is not possible for them to teach safe injection techniques.

The study recommends that it is very important for pharmacists and paramedical staff to be involved in training patients.

PAIN DUE TO injection could be due to the length or thickness of the needle.

STUDY RECOMMENDS that pharmacists and paramedics need to be trained for insulin injections