During the last decade, insulin pump therapy
has gained widespread acceptance in the
treatment of children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes.
In some of the European and North American paediatric
diabetes centres, more than half of the young people with
diabetes try to simulate a normal pattern of insulin secretion
by means of an insulin pump (continuous subcutaneous
insulin infusion). Karin Lange and Thomas Danne look
at the use of insulin pumps among young people of a
range of ages, and outline its advantages, potential risks
and shortcomings, as well as educational requirements
for children – and their parents – initiating this type of
intensive therapy