Study results
One-third of children in the skin care group developed eczema or experienced a wound, compared with almost half of the children in the control group, according to the researchers. The absolute difference in developing eczema or wounds between the two groups was 12.9 % (95% confidence interval, –28.7% to 2.9%).
Children in the skin care group were much less likely to develop wounds, the researchers found, when they focused only on wounds and not eczema (odds ratio, 0.29, 95% CI, 0.12-0.68).
Dr. Berg said she would like to explore whether other techniques, such as a combination of patches, adhesives, or other lotions, yield even better results.
“Anything that can help people use technology more consistently is better for both quality of life and diabetes outcomes,” said Priya Prahalad, MD, a specialist in pediatric endocrinology and diabetes at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health in Palo Alto and Sunnyvale, Calif.
Dr. Prahalad, who was not involved in the Danish study, said that although the sample sizes in the trial were relatively small, the data are “headed in the right direction.”
Pediatricians already recommend using moisturizing creams at the sites where pumps or glucose monitors are inserted into the skin, she noted. But the new study simply employed an especially moisturizing cream to mitigate skin damage.
Although one reason for skin irritation may be the repeated insertion and removal of devices, Dr. Berg and Dr. Prahalad stressed that the medical devices themselves may contain allergy-causing components. Device makers are not required to disclose what’s inside the boxes.
“I do not understand why the full content of a device is not by law mandatory to declare, when declaration by law is mandatory for many other products and drugs but not for medical devices,” Dr. Berg said.
Dr. Berg reports receiving lipid cream from Teva Pharmaceuticals and research support from Medtronic. Dr. Prahalad reports no relevant financial relationships.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.