infusion set change......

[jonesy]

at the hospital, when first getting pump, we were taught to change cannula every 3 days, however that doesn't work on my son, so we change every 2 days. he runs high if left in for 3rd day.
my question is this.....

when you change cannula, do you always change cartridge and tubing too?

we were taught to do this, but lately i have been putting lots more insulin into the cartridge and replacing cannula 2 or 3 times before changing tube and cartridge. it seems to be working fine and all we do is prime the new cannula and we're away.

all seems logical to me, but wondering if there is a reason why i shouldn't do this.

over to you......

jonesy

 

[sugar2]

Hi,

For once in my life...I am doing what I was told!

I change my cannula every 3 days, and my tubes and cartridge every 6 days...ie I doa quick cannula swap every 3rd day, and then change the whole lot every 6 days. Occasional I will change after 2 days, but not as a rule.

 

[jonesy]

werll, that makes sense to me and is pretty much what i'm doing.

it's just that the hospital told us to change everything each time, and that is every 2 days for us.
i think changeing cannula every 2 days and cartridge every 6 sounds ideal.

jonesy

 

[SophiaW]

We're doing the same jonesy and the pump rep/dsn told us the same as you. They said to change the cartridge every 2 days at the same time that we do a site change (Jess is on a steel cannula so it needs changing every 2 days). But it seemed like such a waste of insulin. So now we do a site change every 2 days and change the cartridge on every other change which is every 4 days. It seems to be okay as we've not had any problems and others have been told to change the cartridge within 6 days so we're under that limit.

 

[ams162]

we were also told a new cartridge with every site change and was told the reason was because insulin can lose its effectiveness just sat out, doesnt make much sense when we had injections it was out for alot longer but hey i do as im told and change everytime but also look at how much insulin im throwing too thinking what a waste it is

anna marie

 

[donnellysdogs]

Is there a difference of changing cartridges according to what pumps we use?

I use accuchek combo pump and I was told to change cartridge every 6 days, I use steel sets and have to change them about every 30 hours.

 

[jonesy]

my boy on accu chek combo....he uses the cannula that should last 3 days, but doesn't on him.
even though we were advised to change everything together, every 2 days, i'd heard that people keep insulin in cartridge for 6 days. just seemed logical to me to copy that. also, can't see why tube would need changeing either, so run that for 6 days too.

so far so good!

 

[jopar]

When I started on the pump, I was told to change the infusion sets every 3 days and the tubing every 6 days... Cartridge as necessary which I do (I used teflone cannulars)

You don't have to change cartridges every time you change sets, and you certainly don't have to throw insulin away...

I leave my cartridge until I need to empty or if it's almost empty at the time of a set change, in my case my cartridge last around 16-18 days and in the main have no problems with insulin going off in this time... The only time I might get a problem with insulin not performing well, is if the weather is hot!

But even during warmer months I don't waste insulin by throwing it away, I just part fill with about a weeks worth of insulin.. Then you don't waste insulin on the change!