Hi, we have a 8 year old daughter with Type 1 and tonight we noticed her infusion site caused an infection. A little puss and tender. We cleaned it really well and put some antibiotic cream on it. Has anyone experience this and does it usually go away with out more meds?
All of mine have gone away. I run into the same thing every now and then, one will get a bit "puffy" and they seem to clean up most of the time.
I've pumped for about 30 years and never had infections, other than little ones that healed quickly on their own, a little redness for a day or so. No bad ones until this month when I had a rapid swelling, ■■■■■ infection after I'd removed the needle from my thigh. It developed, over the next 2 days, into about 3" diameter of redness and swelling so I went to the doc where they started me on antibiotics and a doc sliced it open and pushed out much of the puss and left a 1/2" hole with a gauze packing and drain. The culture that came back was a non-MRSA staph so it was treatable with antibiotics and it's well on it's way to healing now after 3 weeks. I still have a gauze strip drain packed in the hole. They want it left open to heal from the bottom up.
The doc said that staph and the MRSA staph's are very prevalent and we all have exposure to these bacteria all the time, many live on our skin and in our mouths. The overuse of antibiotics have contributed to the evolution of these very aggressive bacteria.
In my case I was on a sail boat for 64 hours straight, wearing an insulated foul weather suit which contributed to a perfect, warm, damp environment for the infection to get a good start.
But nowadays with many more of these evolved bacteria us pumpers have to be evermore careful with cleanliness of the site before and after. I'm now more diligent than I ever had been in the past.
In spite of this bad infection I still think pumping, CGM, and Symlin is my best chance for the closest normal Bg's and longest healthiest long term life. It is a trade off but it's worth the risk. I'm currently at 52 years type 1 and still pretty healthy and active.
KEEP IT CLEAN!
I use a small spot of neosporin and poke through it when I put in my set. The built in tape surrounds the Neosporin and keeps it in place. Some of it will also be drawn in to the site when you insert the needle.
I've been using this method for about 5 years and I have not had an infection since.
Some of the trouble can be inflamation caused by the adhesive which then creates a place for bacteria to thrive.
Since I now have a minimed pump and I an allergic to the adhesive, I have an even hightened way of dealing with it,
I put a spot of Neosporin where I expect to insert the needle, then I cover it with a IV3000 then I poke through the Iv3000 right where the blob of neosporin is under it.
Then tape the set on the IV3000. This way the adhesive never touches the skin and the neosporin is there to kill any bacteria that gets in over the 3 days.
I also find that it helps the site heal faster afterward.
If you keep it in the fridge it will be easier to handle and wont smear. I am sure any tripple antibiotic ointment will work,I like neosporin cause it has a narrow opening to the tube. And it lasts for years.
We haven’t had anything other than minor irritation at a site that cleared up in a day or two on its own. We have a little friend, though, who recently had an infection at a site and ended up with sepsis. She needed IV antibiotics and was pretty sick for a few days. Use your judgement, but I would suggest that you keep a close eye on the area, and, if it starts getting larger, redder, more painful, or otherwise looking/feeling worse, you might get it checked out just to be safe. Hopefully, it will clear up by itself and your daughter will be good as new. Take care.
As I posted in the Apidra discussion last year " earlier on ( April ) I had to have Doc lance my infusion site due to infection ... 10 years of pumping and this never happened before ..." and am happy to share ..it has not happened again ...be aware... and I like my neosporin !