The age-old practice of swabbing an injection area before injection may be valueless, according to a report from Tampa, Florida. Physicians at the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital observed that many diabetic patients did not swab their skin before giving their injections, but never seemed to develop infections. They set up a study to determine whether or not this step was actually necessary. They studied 50 patients with 600 injections among them. None of the patients suffered any indication of infection from the lack of swabbing, but they notice that the injections did not burn or sting if the skin was not swabbed with alcohol. (Diabetes Care 16(1)402, January 1993) Copyright Phylis 1993 Austin
