Hi. I have been pumping for about 8 years now. I have always opted for the longer cannula size - 9mm on Medtronic, and for about 3 years 8mm on Roche. I have recently switched back to Medtronic and was accidentally sent the 6mm sets. I am on my third site, and it almost seems as though I am getting much better results on them. I had one bent cannula - not sure if this was just a fluke, due to where it was placed, or whether this is something that I will struggle with if I opt for the shorter cannula. I use 90 degree ones.
Has anybody used both shorter and longer ones? And what has your experience been? Do you find that one gives better results than the other?
I had to switch from 9mm to 6mm very early on because I’m so skinny. I kept getting no delivery errors. The 6mm worked well for me until recently (over a decade later) and I have now just within the past month switched to the Silhouette angled one, and am in love. After pumping this long, you may have scar tissue etc at the depth you have used forever that allows the shorter depth to work better for you.
There is a very interesting article by diabetes self management
describing differences between cannulas that can help you chose. I´ve used 6mm for a time now and have not had any trouble, every once in a while bent canulas but nothing to sorry about.
I was very surprised that the 6mm worked for me at actually as I am not very skinny, and aways just assumed the 6mm worked better for kids and very skinny people. I have not used my stomach area for infusion sets in a long time (I stopped when I was pregnant 8 years ago), and stick to my outer thigh and upper buttocks areas now. the nurse at my doctor’s and the rep thought that I should stick to the 6mm, while I have also been advised to try the 6mm for 1 month and then try the 9mm for one month and see it there is any difference.
I recollect that the decision on cannula length has a lot to do with either body size or type. Being fairly skinny, I’ve never had any problem with the 6mm ones.
I had more trouble with tubing length. They originally gave me 22" tubing. I’m 6’3"-- so that was freaking ridiculous. They gave me the 32" and 40" to try. Like Goldilocks, the right one for me was the one in the middle.
I think for now I will give this a shot, try the longer one next month and then compare.
the length of the tubing can be such a pain! Sometimes I wish for it to be slightly longer, and other times it works fine. today for example i want to wear the pump on the opposite side to where my infusion set is, and so a slight longer tube would have been a little nicer
I have preemptively confessed to the crime of decapitating door knobs on the day that Type 1 is cured. Send me the bill, but I won’t apologize. Those things deserve it!
