Impact of syringe and needle reuse on the clinical outcomes of patients with type 2 diabetes: A 12-week randomized clinical trial

Objective: To evaluate the clinical and laboratory outcomes of patients with type 2 diabetes by comparing the no reuse or reuse of syringes and needles for insulin application.

Research design and methods: Adults with type 2 diabetes who had reused syringes and needles at least three times were randomly instructed either to not reuse or to reuse insulin syringes and needles five times. The primary outcomes assessed were glycemic control, pain scores and skin complications (ecchymosis, lipohypertrophy, nodules, infection) at baseline and 4, 8 and 12 weeks after the intervention. Secondary outcomes included treatment adherence, quality of life, microbiological contamination of syringes and needles, needle quality and insulin injection technique.

Results: Among the 71 participants, who had a mean age of 59.7 ± 8.8 years, 59% were women with a median duration of diabetes of 18 years (10-25) and a body mass index of 31.7 kg/m2. The group that reused syringes and needles experienced an increase in the number of lipohypertrophy/nodules (+0.16 ± 0.08, p=0.040) but did not experience worsening pain or glycemic control, even when the syringes and needles were inserted into the skin with great effort. There was no difference in the total number of skin complications, quality of life or microbiological contamination. Both groups improved treatment adherence, with a greater increase in the reuse group.

Conclusions: The reuse of syringes and needles is associated with a modest increase in lipohypertrophy/nodules but does not have a short-term impact on glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes.