Use of Jet Insulin Injection in Diabetes Mellitus Therapy

The insulin requirements of streptozotocin-induced glucose-intolerant rhesus monkeys were administered with a gas-driven jet, a spring-driven jet in the morning, and a needle and syringe in the afternoon, alternately for thirty days. The three technics of insulin administration were comparable in maintaining the carbohydrate balance of the monkeys. Compared to needle and syringe, jet injectors equate in the incidence of post-injection induration, incision, and leak or splashback. Rapidity, ease of administration, and maintenance of sterility appear to be advantages. Disadvantages of the jet injection include the initial cost and, in some brands, service. Furthermore, mixtures of different insulin types require premixing or the use of two separate jet insulin injections. Biopsy examination of needle and syringe injection sites compared to jet injection sites in these animals revealed no histologic differences.