Just checking with you all experienced users. Can I be relatively sure that there’s no problem using out of date Medtronic quick sets and reservoirs. Dates up to a year expired? All stored properly. Could there be breakdown in the plastic etc?
My only concern is the adhesive breaking down on the sets. The other thing would be degradation of the plunger piston on the reservoir.
Chances are it’s all good unless they were exposed to lots of heat, like a year in the car trunk.
I tend to front my stock, using the oldest first.
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I agree with Luis. If you get leakage as you draw the insulin, it is wiser to toss it, than use it.
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A year or two ago I was having unexplained high BGs. I was using Mio Advanced, not Quick-Sets. I changed the set but corrections still did nothing. I then decided to change my reservoir and saw that there was insulin leaking out, from under the plunger/o-rings. It was an expired reservoir by at least 5 years. I only had one more left in that box so I tossed it. I used to refill my reservoirs several times, using them each time until it was empty, so one reservoir could last for a month or more. Once I threw out the last of my expired reservoirs I did have some that were in date.
But, I had been doing that for years and only had a problem that one time. I had been using reservoirs that were expired for 5-8 years.
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I would not be too worried using sets and cartridges a couple of years after receiving them. Using them after the expiration date may be problematic. I date when I receive supplies and rotate to the oldest. I have never had a problem, and have done this with every pump I have had over the past 25 years. And I store them in the house, i.e. airconditioning and heating.
Cartridge plunger gaskets will dry out over time, and can even disintegrate. Always check the filled carts for black specs after filling. I also run the plunger up and down several times to distribute the lubricant.
I am concerned about reusing a cartridge several times, or even more than once. Plastics filled with fluids elute a compound called pyrogen (fever generating), a class of compounds, that will degrade insulin, cause inflammation, and etc. This is the rationale for not prefilling syringes. Glass does not have this issue, and that is why insulin is sold in glass containers. Only one pump used a pre-filled glass vial, the now defunct SNAP pump. I would only reuse tubing and carts in an emergency situation.
Mike
Mike
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