Introduction Initiation of insulin pump therapy in children with type 1 diabetes results in better glycaemic control, reduction in the short-term and long term complications and in better quality of life.

Objectives To determine the impact of insulin pump on glycaemic control (HbA1c), BMI and occurrence of severe complications in children with IDDM in a secondary care centre.

Methods A retrospective study of children with type 1 diabetes on insulin pump therapy for at least one year at the time of the study was conducted. HbA1c, BMI and frequency of severe complications one year before and after introduction of insulin pump were compared.

Results Twelve out of the thirty children (40%) on insulin pump therapy met our inclusion criteria. Their mean age at the time of the study was 12.6 years. Seven boys (58.3%) and five (42%) girls were studied. The mean duration of diabetes was 5.5 (±2.2) years. The mean HbA1c before the introduction of pump therapy was 8.1% vs. 7.1% one year after; while the mean BMI z-score was 0.79 before and 0.88 after. Severe hypoglycaemia and DKA were noted in two children before but none after the initiation of pump therapy. The mean HbA1c decreased by 0.4% at 3 months (p 0.05) and by 1% at 2 months (p 0.013) of pump therapy.

Conclusions Initiation of insulin pump therapy results in significant reduction in the HbA1c within the first twelve months of therapy with a decrease in the frequency of occurrence of severe complications.