[Ambulatory treatment of diabetes in children by continuous subcutaneous infusion of insulin using a portable pump].

Six diabetic children, aged 2 to 4 years, were selected for continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (SCII) therapy using a portable pump, because of unstable glycemic control. Under previous conventional insulin therapy, they experienced both chronic hyperglycemia (mean: 2.10 +/- 0.07 milligrams, HbA1 C: 9.02 +/- 0.2%) and frequent or severe hypoglycemic manifestations. Reduction of both glycemic level: 1.08 +/- 0.04 milligrams (p less than 0.01) and instability: M index 0.76 +/- 0.2 vs 5.5 +/- 1.4 (p less than 0.01) was obtained the first week after CSII therapy was started. The metabolic improvement was maintained over 5 to 9 months of ambulatory CSII therapy: HbA1 C decreased down to 7.6 +/- 0.6% (p less than 0.05), while hypoglycemic episodes became rare. The portable insulin delivery system was well tolerated both physically and psychologically by 5/6 of the children and their families.