Objective: The objective of this review was to evaluate the medical literature in the last ten years comparing the use of insulin pen injectors versus insulin syringes in children with type 1 diabetes.
Sources: This is a review of literature in the last ten years based on Medline.
Summary of the findings: The use of the insulin pen injector is disseminated all over the world. Most studies show that this method is more comfortable and makes patients' life easier. It is associated to better glycemic control, it is more easily accepted and is related to the reduction of hypoglycemic crisis. The use of the insulin pen injector provided better quality of life to this group of patients.
Conclusions: The new technology produces different methods of insulin administration trying to improve the quality of life of diabetic patients and to reduce the risks of short term complications through the use of insulin pen injectors. The effects of this kind of insulin delivery with the aim of preventing chronic complications are not well established.