April 10, 2003
Insulin Pumps
Question from Tallahassee, Florida, USA:
I inserted my infusion set this morning, and it was painful at first (as it sometimes is), but about eight hours later, I noticed a red oval ring forming around the site. I had felt no irritation of any kind and everything felt fine. I removed the set and the site bled, but there was still no pain. Why did this redness occur?
Answer:
Inserting an infusion set (or even giving an injection) can cause small blood vessels (capillaries) to break under the skin which can create a “blood blister” (what we call a hematoma). That would account for the bleeding when you removed the set. Perhaps this is what you experienced.
Another possibility is irritation from whatever you used to clean the site. Alcohol used to clean the site, for example, can get into the site and set up a local irritation.
Hopefully, this was a one time event. If you continue to have such problems, I would suggest you check with your pump trainer, diabetes educator or physician.
BS
