Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How accurate are insulin pens and syringes for pets?
By Malerba, Eleonora et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·2021·Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: The accuracy and precision of insulin administration using human and veterinary pen-injectors and syringes for administration of insulin.
Plain-English summary
This study looked at how accurately and consistently different devices deliver insulin to diabetic dogs and cats, which need precise doses. Researchers tested various pen-injectors and syringes by dispensing small amounts of insulin multiple times and comparing the intended doses to what was actually delivered. They found that all pen-injectors tended to give less insulin than expected, but some devices, like the JuniorSTAR and VetPen for smaller doses, performed better than others. For larger doses, the 40-unit syringes were more accurate. Overall, the JuniorSTAR and VetPen were the best options for delivering very small doses of insulin.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Many diabetic dogs and cats require small doses of insulin that must be administered accurately. OBJECTIVES: To compare the accuracy and precision of insulin syringes and pen-injectors. ANIMALS: None. METHODS: To determine how accurately and precisely insulin doses are delivered, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16 U doses were dispensed 25 times from 5 SoloSTARs, 5 FlexPens, 5 KwikPens, 5 JuniorSTARs, 5 VetPens 0.5-8 U, 5 VetPens 1-16 U, and by 5 veterinarians using 30 U/0.3 mL and 40 U/mL insulin syringes. Each dose was weighed, using a precision balance, and the intended and delivered doses were compared. RESULTS: All pen-injectors delivered less insulin than the intended dose, underdosage being inversely proportional to insulin dose. The differences between the intended and the delivered dose were not significant using JuniorSTAR and VetPen 0.5-8 U at insulin doses of 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 U, using the 30 U/0.3 mL insulin syringe at the 4 U dose and using the 40 U/mL insulin syringe at the 4, 8, and 16 U doses. With all the devices, precision increased with increasing doses of insulin. The coefficient of variation was <8% for all 6 pen-injectors. Conversely, using 30 U/0.3 mL and 40 U/mL syringes at an insulin dosage of 0.5 U the coefficients of variation were 12.08% and 9.39%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: JuniorSTAR and VetPen 0.5-8 U were more accurate than the other devices when delivering ≤2 U doses, while the delivery of 8 and 16 U doses was more accurate using 40 U/mL syringes.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33991138/