[thatsrightyessa]

hello everyone
im new at this all. i have been told many different stories on injections and wanted some clarification from everyone here. when administering i was told to inject aspirate then slowly inject med. i went to give an im immuinzation to a 6 month old infant at the vastus lateralis injection site. i was told i didnt have to because it would be impossible to hit blood vessels in that area.taht info. was from a very good source well qualified. i was just wondering on this, and if you were to hit a vessel and inject in to it what can really happen?? im just confused now on the whole pulling back or not!

[cougarnurse]

Injecting into a vessel would cause the med. to be administered more quickly. (Think IV admin.)

'Cat'

[thatsrightyessa]

ohh ok right iv admin. but how would it effect an infant if a vaccince was administed iv instead of im?? what do u think the person meant you would basically never hit a vein at the vastus lateralis site do you agree or is that a personal opinion?

i would love to hear feedback from everyone ..! thanks

[MagRedC5]

Originally Posted by thatsrightyessa

hello everyone
im new at this all. i have been told many different stories on injections and wanted some clarification from everyone here. when administering i was told to inject aspirate then slowly inject med. i went to give an im immuinzation to a 6 month old infant at the vastus lateralis injection site. i was told i didnt have to because it would be impossible to hit blood vessels in that area.taht info. was from a very good source well qualified. i was just wondering on this, and if you were to hit a vessel and inject in to it what can really happen?? im just confused now on the whole pulling back or not!

Howdy!

For intramuscular [IM] injections use a 1.5" needle for most adults and 5/8 - 1.5" needle for children... varies with size of patient.

[Skipping the next steps, and going straight to your Aspirate question]

Tighten the skin and hold the syringe like a pencil at a 90 degree angle upon insertion. Use enough force to penetrate skin/subq & into the muscle in one smooth motion. Now, aspirate by pulling back on the plunger to ensure you do NOT have blood return. If, blood is aspirated into the syringe STOP, and remove the needle. Otherwise, you run the risk of accidental injection into the blood stream. Some meds are not pure enough for safe injection into the bloodstream, or not compatible with the blood pH [7.35-7.45].

[hfergrn]

I am a PICU nurse and always aspirate. You never know when you may hit something. It is possible, but happens rarely. I am afraid that the rare time it happens it will be me. With kids, thier bodies are smaller and can't take things like adults can. It can be very serious to get an IM med in the wrong spot. And to say you won't hit anything, with little ones, just placing an IV is a challenge because you can very easily hit an artery and only know this because of the way blood is pulsating out.

[thatsrightyessa]

thanks for the input. i guess there are always differnt opinions, its just hard when the person you work with has a difference of opinion. i will do what i think is right,, i just wonder how many people dont aspirate, and if anything happens to the pt/ child. i mean who i work with doesnt aspirate i know on mostly all her injections in childern so, i wonder what effects that has on the child. idk.. what do yall think

[hfergrn]

Let me put it this way.....she will know the first time it is in the wrong place and her kid has severe reactions from it. Some reactions can be devistating.

[thatsrightyessa]

yes i guess thats a good way to think of it. i saw you said you were picu nurse. if a child was given an injection (immunization) wrong route ex; iv instead of im . when would the effects set in .. immeditaly after injection? or.....

[hfergrn]

Depending on where and what med. Some can be more caustic than others. Think about this.....what if a child was allergic to an immunization (the only way to know what your allergies are is to get the med). Now, that immunization goes into a vein (even artery) and the pt has an allergic response.....better have a crash cart handy-and someone to use it.