A small, harmless dent or lump on the skin’s surface that forms when a person with diabetes repeatedly injects insulin at the same site. Lipodystrophy can be prevented by rotation of injection sites and, in some cases, by using purified insulin.
A complication of insulin administration characterized by changes in the subcutaneous fat at the site of injection. The changes may take the form of atrophy or hypertrophy; rarely are both types present in the same patient. Atrophy develops in as many as one third of children and women who use insulin regularly, but rarely in men. The defect in subcutaneous fat leaves a saucer-like depression. Hypertrophy at the injection site occurs in the form of a spongy localized area. This complication of insulin administration is slightly more common in males than in females. It is usually associated with a history of repetitive use of one injection site.