Introduction:

Diabetes mellitus type 1 is a chronic disease that, once diagnosed, generates changes in the patient's lifestyle. In order to achieve optimal treatment and avoid subsequent complications, such as lipohypertrophy caused by the increase in the use of insulin, it is vital that patients and medical personnel receive adequate education, so that they acquire knowledge and skills related to the application of the insulin injection. Lipohypertrophy occurs due to the accumulation of subcutaneous fat at the site where insulin is repeatedly injected.

Objective:

To describe lipohy pertrophy in patients with diabetes mellitus, as well as the knowledge and education that should be acquired on the subject.

Methodology:

A review of the literature in the databases SciELO, Ovid, Medline, PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Elsevier was carried out, from which 71 articles we identified, and of which 50 met the criteria and were relevant to the search.

Results:

The most complete and pertinent information was selected from the databases regarding lipohypertrophy, knowledge, education, and insulin treatment in diabetes mellitus.

Conclusion:

This research allowed us to determine that lipohypertrophy, a secondary complication of insulin treatment in diabetes mellitus, is caused by factors such as an inadequate application technique and inadequate rotation of the injection sites, as well as the lack of knowledge that patients have regarding the treatment, and the lack of education of health personnel when it comes to the use of insulin application techniques.

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