Complications after an intramuscular injection. If the injection is done incorrectly

Intramuscular injections? is the second most popular method of administering medications after the use of tablets. This is due to the simplicity of the injection technique and the high effectiveness of the medicine, which goes directly into the blood. Injections have virtually no side effects, do not cause intestinal irritation and do not lead to inhibition of the proliferation of beneficial microflora, which cannot be said about tablets and antibiotics. Let's consider how to properly give an intramuscular injection? and what you will need for this.

Intramuscular injections - what are they and why do them?

Injections are divided into two types - intravenous and intramuscular. The first should be trusted exclusively to professionals. The latter can be practiced even by people remote from medical practice. An intramuscular injection is done to penetrate the needle under the subcutaneous fat layer and inject the medicinal drug.

For injection, it is recommended to choose places with the maximum volume of muscle mass, in which there are no large vessels and nerve endings:

• buttocks;
• outer thigh;
• shoulder area.

In order to give an injection, you need to choose a comfortable position. The best options are a lying position or a standing half-turn position. If you plan to inject into the gluteal muscle, it is recommended to give it a slap before administering the injection. This will relieve muscle tension, which will reduce pain to a minimum.

If the injection is performed in the reed area, then it is first necessary to collect the fat layer into a fold. This will prevent the needle from entering the periosteum. Intramuscular injection is the main alternative to taking pills. The action of the injection is more effective and faster. This is especially true for those people who experience severe pain and need prompt relief.

Follow these steps:

This is important:
carefully read the instructions for the medicine; some medicines (for example, oil preparations) must first be heated, and powder analogues must be diluted with novocaine.

How to prepare for the procedure and what will be needed for this?

For intramuscular injection you will need:

1. ampoule with medical solution;
2. dry substance and ampoules with solvent;
3. cotton wool;
4. alcohol;
5. syringe.

To prepare for the procedure, you should choose a place for medical supplies in advance. Next, wash your hands with soap and dry them well with a towel. Review the medication ampoules to make sure they have the correct expiration date. Take the ampoule and turn it over so that all the contents are at the bottom of the bottle. To do this, you can tap your fingernail on the top of the ampoule.

Wet a cotton swab with alcohol solution and treat the top of the bottle. Next, you should file the ampoule a little so that the tip can be broken off freely. Take a disposable syringe; reusing the tool, even if you are injecting only yourself, is strictly prohibited.

Draw the contents of the bottle into the syringe and turn it up. Slowly press down on the syringe handle to push out excess air. Stop when drops of medical solution appear on the tip of the instrument.

Select the injection site, divide the area into four parts, wipe the upper area with cotton wool soaked in alcohol and disinfect several times. After this, you can give the injection.

Tip: choose the volume of the syringe depending on the type of medicine and the location of the procedure. For example, syringes from 2 ml are best suited for injection into the thigh. To inject the solution into the buttock, you should choose an instrument with a volume of 5 ml. You should not use syringes larger than 10 ml, as this can lead to the formation of difficult to resolve tumors and lumps.

Without forgetting about safety

We learned how to properly give an intramuscular injection. However, before, during and after the procedure, there are mandatory rules:

1. the syringe, ampoules, cotton wool and gloves (if you used them) must be thrown away. Do not use a disposable syringe twice, even on the same patient. You should not skimp on cotton wool and soak an already used tampon in alcohol. Traces of blood remain on it, which can lead to infection of another person;
2. If you need to give several injections at a time, you should distribute them over several places. It is not necessary to inject only into the gluteal area, as this can lead to the formation of lumps and lumps;
3. When carrying out the procedure, be sure to ensure that the instruments are sterile;
4. if there are no special conditions for administering the injection, then it is recommended to choose 2-cc types of syringes. They ensure faster distribution of the drug in the bloodstream, and also minimize the risk of compaction formation;
5. If blood begins to flow into the syringe during injection, it means you have entered a blood vessel. To correct the situation, slightly change the direction of needle insertion and reduce the penetration depth.

You should give injections yourself only after consulting a doctor, who will indicate the medications you need, their dosage and frequency of use. It is important to remember that in addition to medicinal properties, most drugs have a list of contraindications.

The technique for children is practically no different from the procedure for adults. Choose syringes of a smaller volume than for an adult, choose 4 cm needles. Before injecting, you need to massage the baby’s muscles well. Preparations for the procedure should be done away from the child’s eyes; do not frighten him in advance.

However, it is not worth convincing the baby that it will not hurt. He should know that during the injection there may be a feeling of discomfort. However, this will not last long and the painful sensations will quickly pass. Convince your child that this measure is necessary to fight the disease. At the end of the procedure, be sure to reward him with a sweet reward.

Reasons for air getting in when injecting into a muscle

During an injection into the muscle, air bubbles enter there along with the solution from the syringe. But how do they get into the syringe? A syringe and a needle are hollow objects, and, one way or another, there is air in them. It is also present in ampoules with medicinal powder or ready-made solution for injection. When preparing the solution and drawing it into the syringe, air bubbles inevitably get inside. Before administering the injection, the healthcare worker is obliged to get rid of most of the air (it’s impossible to remove absolutely all of it anyway - laws of physics). This is done by small manipulations with syringes and releasing a small dose of the drug. Only after this can the patient be given an injection.

The safety rules specify what danger air can pose after entering the vessels and cells of the body. The terrible words “fatal outcome” and “embolism” refer only to injections into venous vessels and the formation of blockages as a result of air entering them. And we are talking about a large air bubble - 200 ml, for children - from 70 ml. It is very difficult to do this by accident, given the volume. And small bubbles have time to dissolve in the blood vessels and will not harm a person in any way.

Consequences of an incorrect injection

1. hematoma formation - occurs if a vessel is broken or if you press the syringe plunger too sharply and inject. Painful sensations occur that can last about a week;
2. an infiltrate is formed - occurs when the medicine is not completely absorbed, voluminous lumps are formed that are visible to the naked eye;
3. abscess - occurs in case of infection at the injection site, is formed as a result of purulent processes in the soft tissues. It looks like a swollen lump with purulent contents. Abscesses should definitely be shown to a specialist. It can be removed with ointments; in extreme cases, surgical intervention is used;
4. if a needle hits a nerve, there is a feeling of numbness in the limbs, and paralysis may even occur. Anti-inflammatory and vitamin preparations are used for treatment;
5. allergic reaction - can manifest itself in the form of redness, bouts of runny nose and cough.

The reason for these consequences is non-compliance with the rules of hygiene of the procedure and administration of the medicine at the wrong angle. Follow the above recommendations, and such troubles will not affect you.

Hello, our dear readers! Often in life we ​​encounter unforeseen circumstances. Illness comes when you least expect it. We contact a doctor who prescribes treatment: pills, injections. And the question arises: how to give an intramuscular injection into the buttock?

The most reliable thing is to learn how to give injections yourself! There's nothing complicated about it. But you won’t go broke on paid services. A sick relative will not have to drag himself to the clinic. What if you are at the dacha? Who will give the injection? All in all, this is a vital skill to have.

How to give an injection to an adult yourself

You should prepare for the procedure:

• Set aside a place on the table and lay out a clean napkin;
• Prepare a bottle of alcohol and cotton swabs;
• Prepare an ampoule with medicine;
• Disposable syringe for intramuscular injections;
• Medical disposable gloves.

Procedure technique:

• Open the bag containing the disposable syringe, put the needle with the case on the tip of the syringe;
• Take the ampoule with the medicine in your hands and open it. Sometimes there is a red or yellow dot on the ampoule - this is an indicator where you need to break off the tip of the ampoule. If there are no clues, use a nail file to make a notch on the narrow end of the ampoule, wrap it in cotton wool and break it off.
• Now take the syringe in your hands and carefully remove the cap from the needle without touching it with your hands. Take the ampoule with the medicine in your left hand, and with your right hand insert the tip of the needle into the ampoule, touching its bottom. Use the plunger of the syringe to draw out all the liquid from the ampoule.

NB Take a syringe larger in volume than the contents of the medicine in the ampoule. For example, take a 2 ml ampoule and a 3 ml syringe;

• Check that there is no air in the syringe. To do this, holding it up with the needle and pressing lightly on the piston, squeeze out all the air until the medicine drips out.
• The patient lies on his stomach. Determine the place where you will give the injection. To do this, mentally divide the right or left gluteal region into 4 quadrants. You will prick in the outer upper quadrant, where there is a strong muscle layer and there are no large vessels or nerve trunks;
• Take the syringe comfortably in your right hand and bring it to the selected point at a distance of 3-4 cm from the surface of the buttock. Using the fingers of your other hand, lightly squeeze the skin fold and quickly insert the syringe approximately ¾ of the way through the needle at a right angle. Inject the medicine slowly! After insertion, quickly remove the needle and press the skin with an alcohol swab. Massage the injection site for a minute.

Determining the exact injection site

To correctly and painlessly carry out an intramuscular injection, you need to divide the buttock into four parts with an imaginary straight cross (see figure). You need to prick in the upper part of the outer side.

Why is it necessary to inject in this particular area? This choice has its justification. If you simply inject into the buttock in a randomly selected area, you may damage the sciatic nerve (see picture) and develop neuritis - a painful inflammation. This complication is very serious - which is why it is extremely important to determine exactly the place where the drug needs to be injected so that the procedure is painless and does not leave behind adverse consequences.

Complications when performing intramuscular injection

Before you take independent action, you need to find out about all the possible complications so as not to harm yourself or your loved ones.

Infection with hepatitis B, C virus, HIV infection.

It would seem that you are doing everything according to the rules. Maintain asepsis! What problems could there be? And here are the ones! Unfortunately, there are quite a few people who can be virus carriers and don’t even know about it. But their blood is dangerous for healthy people. Giving an intramuscular injection is potentially dangerous in terms of infection.

Advice:

Use only disposable syringes! And second! Wear disposable medical gloves for manipulation!

Formation of infiltrates

Dense, moderately painful lumps or lumps deep in the muscle at the injection site are formed for several reasons:

• The patient is prescribed a large number of injections and they are given too close to each other;
• Seals are formed if the medicine was stored in the refrigerator before direct use;
• Injecting the medicine very quickly into the muscle promotes the formation of lumps.

Advice:

Change injection sites daily (day - right buttock, day - left). Warm the ampoule slightly in warm palms. Give the medicine slowly. If bumps appear, apply an iodine mesh, warm the seals with a heating pad, and apply a vodka compress at night. The slightest pain and redness at the site of “cold” infiltrates is a reason to consult a doctor about the development of an abscess.

Abscesses at the injection site

A serious complication associated with the entry of microbes into the gluteal muscle during the injection. The reason is non-compliance with the basics of asepsis. The first symptoms of a gluteal abscess: malaise, increased body temperature, local redness of the skin, swelling, the skin at the site of the abscess is hot, troubling throbbing pain.

Advice:

Without wasting time, contact a surgeon. Most likely, antibiotics will be prescribed. If a purulent cavity has already formed, a cross-shaped incision will be made, the wound will be washed, drained, an aseptic bandage will be applied and the abscess will be treated further.

Hematomas

Often after the injection the wound bleeds for a long time. Apparently you hit a small vessel. The next day, a small or even extensive hematoma may form at the injection site. In principle, there is nothing terrible about this. Just after removing the needle, you need to press down firmly on the tampon, hold it for a minute or two and massage. The resulting hematomas then resolve and disappear without a trace.

Oil or air embolism

It does not occur often, only if you violate the rules for preparing for intramuscular injections: for example, you did not completely release all the air from the syringe. In addition, sometimes doctors prescribe oil-based injections or suspensions to the patient.

If you make an injection unsuccessfully and get into a vessel, such a medicine can clog them, disrupt tissue nutrition, and necrosis will occur. Or drops of the medicine will penetrate into the general bloodstream and reach vital organs, for example, a pulmonary embolism will occur, which can even result in death.

Advice:

Still, don’t make oil medicines or suspensions yourself. Check the syringe for air. Read the labels on medications carefully. Among them there are those that cannot be injected intramuscularly, only into a vein, otherwise they cause tissue necrosis. For example, Cavinton.

Anaphylactic shock

A very serious complication that can happen to anyone. Very rare, but there are cases of drug intolerance.

Advice:

If you have never taken a medicine prescribed by a doctor before, it is better not to risk it and do the first injection at the clinic. There are all the conditions for a quick response in such situations.

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What to do if the needle breaks

If the patient, out of fear of the injection, shakes and shrinks into a ball, and when the needle enters the muscle, he tenses and suddenly twitches, theoretically the needle can break and remain in the muscle. This will cause fear not only in the patient, but also in the person doing the injection.

Advice:

Calm yourself and reassure the patient. The needle will not move anywhere from the injection site. The main thing is not to let the patient move. If the tip of the needle sticks out above the surface of the skin, you can try to remove it with tweezers, after carefully wiping it with alcohol.

If the fragment is not visible, call a doctor or an ambulance. In any case, you and your patient will get away with a slight fright.

If the needle gets into the nerve trunk on the buttock

There are difficult patients: exhausted, when the muscle layer on the buttocks is minimal. Or the patient has scoliosis of the spine, displacement of the pelvic bones and it is also difficult to determine where the outer upper quadrant is located, where it is recommended to place the injection.

In difficult cases, injury to the nerve trunks in the gluteal region is possible. This will cause shooting pain, maybe even radiating to the leg or perineum, and numbness in areas of the skin.

Advice:

Remove the needle immediately. Most likely, such an injury will not entail any serious, undesirable consequences. Be careful. And it is better, if possible, not to take on the treatment of such complex patients.

How to give an intramuscular injection into the buttock? Prepare properly for the procedure, observing aseptic measures. Be sure to select a safe area in the buttock for the injection. Know possible complications: development of infiltration, abscess, embolism, anaphylactic shock and prevent their development.

Most injections prescribed by doctors for the disease are called intramuscular. Simply put, it is an injection into the buttock or thigh. Everything seems simple, but in reality this is not always the case. This easy procedure has its own “surprises”.

There are several common types of complications after intramuscular injections. Bruise

In medical language it is called a hematoma.
It is the most harmless complication. It goes away on its own and does not require treatment. Induration, or infiltration
Occurs when the medicine enters the subcutaneous fat cell rather than the muscle.
The resorption process takes a very long time; in some cases, an abscess may form at the injection site. However, there is no reason to worry if the lump - with or without a bruise - does not bother you, is palpable, but does not hurt, and the injection site is not red or hot. When a seal forms, it is recommended to apply a compress: take a 6-8-layer gauze cloth, moisten it with alcohol, squeeze it out and apply it to the seal site. Place compress paper on top of the napkin, and on top of it - a layer of cotton wool, completely covering the two previous layers. Place a piece of bandage over the compress, covering the cotton wool, and secure on all four sides with adhesive tape. The compress is removed after 6-8 hours. You can help the lump to dissolve with the following means: iodine mesh, apply a cabbage leaf several times a day, cut it well with a knife (optionally, beat it off), apply with or without honey, you can make a compress with heparin-containing gel and dimexide: apply the gel to the surface, and fold a bandage on top , moistened with dimexide diluted 1:5. An abscess or abscess
As a rule, it is provoked by microbes that enter through the skin when injected.
It's not such a safe situation anymore. The first symptom that should make you wary is swelling and redness, possibly throbbing pain. If you rush to the doctor, you will get by with standard treatment at an early stage. And if you miss the moment, you will have to use the services of a surgeon and his scalpel. Nerve
Damage When injected into the buttock, there is a slim chance of hitting the sciatic nerve, which runs through the middle and lower part of the buttocks.
This is both painful and can also temporarily paralyze. A neurologist will help you get rid of the consequences. Allergic reaction
The occurrence of an allergic reaction cannot always be predicted.
Symptoms always appear immediately. Swelling, redness, itching at the injection site. Some may experience allergic rhinitis, and some may experience conjunctivitis. In this case, you should immediately consult a doctor. Needle breakage
This can happen if the patient’s muscles begin to contract sharply - the person, for example, is afraid or when using a dull or defective needle.
What to do if a needle breaks:
reassure your client and calm down yourself;
if the patient was standing, place him on his stomach; if he was in a lying position, ask him not to move; press firmly on the buttock at the injection site with the first and second fingers of your left hand; When the tip of the needle appears, grab it with tweezers held in your right hand. To the doctor!
If after the injection you observe: an increase in temperature, severe redness of the injection site, severe pain, swelling, pus is released. Visit a surgeon soon! The longer you wait to visit, the more likely you are to need surgery.

When there is no way to get to the doctor and someone needs to pick up a syringe.

It happens that you need to get an injection, but there is no doctor nearby. And you have to turn to relatives and those who are nearby. There are craftsmen who can inject themselves, but this is not a very good idea, if only because it is inconvenient. It is better to give instructions to a person who is ready to help with the procedure.

Drug therapy

Treatment of the sciatic nerve requires conservative methods.

The basis of the medicinal method is taking medications, such as:

1. Non-steroidal drugs that have an anti-inflammatory effect.
2. Pain sensations are suppressed with the help of analgesics.
3. Muscle relaxants help reduce tension in muscle tissue.
4. Peripheral blood circulation can be improved with the help of myotropic antispasmodics.

An incorrect injection into the sciatic nerve entails consequences, which are easier to overcome with complex therapy. Therapeutic gymnastics will help you recover quickly.

Nuance! Physical therapy should not be confused with regular exercise. The main task of exercise therapy is the elimination of post-traumatic syndrome. A set of gentle exercises is prescribed during the rehabilitation period to strengthen the muscle frame and train muscle endurance.

During the treatment of irritated nerve fiber, regular water procedures in the pool and cycling are recommended. You need to exercise without straining your body, and correctly balance physical activity with rest.

When to give an injection without specialists

1. If the drug was not prescribed by a doctor. In general, there is no need to engage in self-medication, much less injections, even if for some reason you want to “inject some vitamins.” The drug, its dosage, how to dilute it - all this is determined by the doctor, and only he.
2. If the patient has never taken this drug before. Many medications have side effects and can cause unwanted reactions. Medicines that are administered through injections enter the blood faster, so reactions to them appear quickly and strongly. Therefore, it is better to do the first injection in a medical facility and not rush to run away from there, but wait 5-10 minutes so that everything is in order. If something goes wrong, the clinic will help, but at home you may not be able to cope.
3. When you have the opportunity to use the services of doctors, but don’t want to. An intramuscular injection is short-lived and inexpensive, but doing it at home can be a waste of time, so you won’t be able to save any money or time.
4. When the person who needs the shot has HIV, hepatitis or other blood-borne infections, or if it is not known whether the person has these infections (no valid certificate). In this case, it is better to entrust the matter to specialists in order to eliminate the risk of infection: doctors have more experience, and they will then dispose of the instruments properly.
5. If you are very scared and your hands are shaking so much that you do not hit the patient.

ethnoscience

When asked by the patient whether it is possible to treat a damaged sciatic nerve at home, the answer is yes. But only after agreeing on the method with a health professional. Non-traditional therapy, as an independent method of recovery, is weakly effective. Its purpose is to generally strengthen the immune system and accelerate the elimination of side effects.

We must treat the gifts of nature with caution. Components in some ointments or lotions have a warming effect and can trigger allergic reactions.

It is recommended to take therapeutic baths with the addition of herbal remedies not only during the treatment of the consequences of an incorrect injection in the area of ​​the sciatic nerve, but also for preventive purposes.

At the end of the therapeutic course, a final examination by a doctor is required. Only a specialist can talk about treatment prognosis. A repeat course is prescribed as necessary. To prevent sciatica from becoming chronic, it must be completely eliminated.