February 21, 2004
Daily Care
Question from Buffalo, New York, USA:
My son uses Humalog in an insulin pump and develops a red mark after we change his infusion site. Is it okay to use Neosporin at every site change to speed up healing and prevent infection, or is it bad to use an antiobiotic cream almost everyday? Also, is it true that NovoLog doesn’t leave a red mark?
Answer:
It is fine to use a topical antibiotic ointment at the pump sites. You should be changing the sites no more than every 3 days and, then, just use the ointment on the day of the site change.
It has been my, admittedly anecdotal experience, that many of my families using insulin pumps in very young children have had better luck on NovoLog with pump sites “lasting” to the third day without redness or a rise in blood sugar levels by the third day. No controlled studies comparing NovoLog and Humalog in pumps are available yet.
LAD
