Leakage on Removing Needles from Skin Following Self-injection of Insulin

-Measuring Amounts of Drops of Insulin from over-the-counter Injection Needles,Testing Injection Needles Using Different Needle Tip Angles and Patient Survey on Self-injection of Insulin-

Abstract

In view of reports of occasional leakage of insulin following injection by patients,we investigated the frequency of such insulin leakage and the amounts of leakage.To do this,we conducted a questionnaire survey and estimated the amount of insulin leakage based on the results of an insulin dropping test.We also investigated different needle tip angles to gauge the effect on insulin drops.
In the results of the survey,71.0% of patients answered that insulin“always”or“sometimes”leaked from the needlepoint after injection and that an average of 2.1 drops of insulin per injection did not enter the body.
The insulin dropping test indicated that greater needle internal diameters increased the weight of a drop of insulin dripping from the needlepoint.Drop weight also varied depending on whether there was a silicon coating or not.However,it was not affected by different needle tip angles.