Subclinical lipohypertrophy--Easily ignored complications of insulin therapy.

AIMS: Subclinical lipohypertrophy is a lesion meeting ultrasonic criteria for lipohypertrophy that was not detected by inspection and palpation. Little information is published on subclinical lipohypertrophy among insulin injection people with diabetes. We aimed to investigate the subclinical lipohypertrophy prevalence, risk factors, and the association between subclinical lipohypertrophy and glycemic control.

METHODS

This observational study included 316 people with diabetes who had continuously received insulin therapy for at least one year. We performed ultrasound scanning and clinical examination for evidence of subclinical lipohypertrophy. Demographic characteristics, clinical information, and glycated hemoglobin were measured.

RESULTS

The overall prevalence of subclinical lipohypertrophy was 19.9%. By stepwise logistic regression, higher BMI (OR = 1.44, 95%CI: 1.15-1.81, P = 0.002), incorrect rotation of sites (OR = 3.11, 95%CI: 1.02-9.47, P = 0.046), insulin needle reusage for more than four times (OR = 10.00, 95%CI: 3.23-31.02, P = 0.000) and type 1 diabetes (OR = 6.33, 95%CI: 1.32-30.47, P = 0.021) remained associated with subclinical lipohypertrophy. Subclinical lipohypertrophy demonstrated a significant independent correlation with the nonoptimal glycemic control (OR = 9.97, 95% CI: 3.46-28.75, P = 0.000) when accounting for demographic and diabetes-related parameters.

CONCLUSIONS

Subclinical lipohypertrophy is common among insulin-injecting patients with diabetes and is related to glycemic control deterioration. Ultrasonography may be an ideal adjunct in the evaluation of easily ignored lipohypertrophy lesions, especially where poor glycemic control, incorrect injection behaviors, overweight or obesity are documented.