Diabetic muscle infarction as a rare cause of acute onset leg pain

Diabetic muscle infarction (DMI) is a rare microvascular complication with spontaneous necrosis of skeletal musculature, most often localised to the thigh. DMI presents as an acute onset of pain in a muscle or muscle group. DMI is probably underdiagnosed because of its rareness and many differential diagnoses, why patients often undergo unnecessary and invasive diagnostic testing. The condition can be diagnosed with magnetic resonance imaging and the treatment is supportive with analgesics, bedrest and glycaemic control. We present two cases of DMI in patients with long-standing Type 1 diabetes.