2019 Volume 62 Issue 2 Pages 76-83
When a diabetic patient undergoing insulin self-injection treatment repeats injections at a site, the subcutaneous tissue changes before a subcutaneous mass develops. In this study of 59 cases, nurses performed ultrasonography to determine subcutaneous tissue changes, in addition to performing a conventional visual examination and palpation for subcutaneous masses. Subcutaneous masses were palpable and subcutaneous changes were confirmed by ultrasonography in 13 cases (22.0 %) (palpable group), while subcutaneous masses were not palpable but subcutaneous changes were confirmed by ultrasonography in 11 cases (18.6 %) (non-palpable group) and neither subcutaneous masses nor subcutaneous changes were found in 35 cases (59.3 %) (negative group). At the time of intervention, there were no significant differences in HbAlc or the total insulin doses between the non-palpable group and the negative group. Six months later, among the 47 cases whose hypoglycemic agent dose had not been changed except for insulin, significant HbAlc decreases were observed for 10 cases in the palpable group and 10 cases in the non-palpable group. In conclusion, ultrasonography is effective for the early detection of subcutaneous tissue changes and thus for controlling blood glucose.
