Risk and benefits of continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) treatment in school children and adolescents

Abstract

Continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) therapy with technically advanced modern insulin pumps is a treatment option enabling patients and multidisciplinary diabetes teams to achieve all current goals for the treatment of children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM): near-normoglycemia, low rate of hypoglycemia, preventing or delaying long-term complications and increasing quality of life. Clinical studies demonstrate that CSII therapy reduces glycosylated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) with a concomitant decrease in the rate of hypoglycemic events, without excessive weight gain and with an increase of patients' treatment satisfaction in all pediatric age groups. With the development of continuous glucose sensing coupled with an insulin pump, patients can hope for an ever-increasing technological support for the management of insulin therapy in the foreseeable future.