IM injection

from bd syringe manufacturer:

safe injection techniques.

aspiration:

although aspiration is no longer recommended for sc

injections, it should be practised in im injections. if a

needle is mistakenly placed in a blood vessel, the drug

may be given intravenously by mistake and could cause

an embolus as a result of the chemical components of

the drug. following insertion into the muscle, aspiration

should be maintained for several seconds to allow

blood to appear, especially if a narrow bore needle is

used (torrance 1989a). if blood is aspirated, the syringe

should be discarded and a fresh drug prepared. if no

blood appears, proceed to inject at a rate of approximately

1ml every ten seconds. this may seem slow,

but it allows time for the muscle fibres to expand and

absorb the solution. there should also be a ten second

wait before withdrawal of the needle, to allow the

medication to diffuse into the muscle before the needle

is finally withdrawn. if there is seepage from the

site, slight pressure using a gauze swab can be applied.

a small plaster may be required at the site. massage

of the site should be discouraged because it may cause

the drug to leak from the needle entry site and irritate

local tissues (beyea and nicholl 1995).

Hey, I was giving flu shots at the flu clinic and some people bled while others didn't. What does it mean if they bleed? If they bleed, does it mean I did something wrong? Thanks.

No. As long as you followed correct technique and aspirated before injection and got no blood return, you did nothing wrong. Sometimes when you are injecting the needle, the needle does manage to traumatize or poke through capillaries that lie within the muscular tissue as you are making your way to the needle's final destination. After you withdraw the needle, these damaged capillaries will then bleed. That is the bleeding you are seeing. It happens and there is no way to prevent it from happening.

Thank you so much for the info. My professor said to aspirate until you see a bubble, is that how you do it?

The only way that is going to happen is if there is air in the muscle! Read the Safe Injection Techniques article that NRSKarenRN posted for you to read. It tells you exactly what the procedure is and how long to wait when you aspirate. You aspirate and if you see blood then you withdraw the needle and discard the entire syringe and it's contents and redraw the medication into a new syringe and start all over.