ESPE Abstracts

Background: Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is a disorder characterized by insulin insufficiency caused by the autoimmune destruction of pancreatic beta cells. Optimum control of TIDM needs insulin administration along with intensive education. Lipohypertrophy is one of the complications and risk factors of uncontrolled diabetes.

Objective: To determine the frequency and associated factors of lipohypertrophy in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes in a tertiary care Centre.

Material & Methods: Study Design: Cross-sectional descriptive study. Settings: Department of Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes, Pediatric Unit-1, FMU/Allied Hospital, Faisalabad, Pakistan. Duration: 6 months from January 2023 to June 2023.

Methods: A total of 148 children and adolescents with type 1 diabetic patients were enrolled. All the children were examined for the presence of lipohypertrophy (LH), and different associated factors for lipohypertrophy were statistically assessed to determine its significance.

Results: The mean age of children and adolescents with T1DM was 6.74 ± 2.67 years, with ages ranging from 3 to 7 years comprising 60.14% and 8 to 12 years comprising 39.86% of the cohort. Males and females were 85 (57.43%) and 63 (42.57%), respectively. The mean duration of T1DM was 3.86 ± 1.90 years, with less than ≤5 years (75%), and >5 years (25%). The mean body mass index was 23.43 ± 4.78 kg/m2. The frequency of lipohypertrophy was found in 58/148 (39.19%) patients with male predominance (40/85). Failure to change the injection sites and the younger age group were the most important associated factors for lipohypertrophy.

Conclusion: The frequency of lipohypertrophy (LH) is higher among children and adolescents with T1DM. The most important associated factors for lipohypertrophy were a younger age group, failure to change the injection sites, syringe reuse, and poor diabetes control. This demonstrates the critical role of patient education in the prevention of LH, emphasizing the need to rotate injection sites correctly to avoid needle reuse and maintain diabetes control.

Keywords: Type 1 diabetes, lipohypertrophy, Diabetes control.