Insulin test

What the risks are:

• excessive bleeding
• fainting or feeling lightheaded
• hematoma (blood accumulating under the skin)
• infection (a slight risk any time the skin is broken)
• multiple punctures to locate veins

Special considerations:

Obesity decreases the sensitivity of various tissues to insulin, which normally results in a compensatory increased insulin production by the pancreas.

Veins and arteries vary in size from one patient to another and from one side of the body to the other. Obtaining a blood sample from some people may be more difficult than from others.