Two Cases With Type 1 Diabetes Treated With Insulin Pump Therapy Using a Telemedicine Approach During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D) is an autoimmune-related disease resulting in insulin dependency, treated with insulin injection via pen devices or continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII). Face-to-face instruction for managing insulin injection and dosing and machine-to-device troubleshooting are required early to initiate CSII from insulin injections. Thus, T1D individuals may encounter significant barriers to pen devices or CSII introduction if they live in remote rural areas. In this regard, intermittently scanned continuous glucose monitoring (isCGM) can share visualized glucose profiles via a cloud-platform-based system, offering the potential as an effective tool in telemedicine. Herewith, we report two cases of subjects with T1D living in remote rural areas whose CSII was safely introduced in outpatient settings with the aid of cloud-platform-based isCGM and a video-meeting tool. They showed improved glucose profiles after CSII initiation. Even under the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the telemedicine system enabled healthcare providers to monitor glucose profiles and confirm device procedures of CSII. We emphasize the usefulness of online instruction with cloud-platform-based isCGM for introducing CSII in cases with barriers to healthcare access, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.