Question about injections

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If you give an IM injection subcutaneously, or vice-versa, what would happen? I'm asking this out of curiosity. I have heard some nurses say "I'm not sure I went into the muscle" when giving IM injections. Just wondering what the consequence is.

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Specializes in PICU, Sedation/Radiology, PACU.

The rate of absorption is a lot different. It could mean that the medication is not completely absorbed and the patient doesn't get the correct dose. It could mean the medication is absorbed too quickly and the patient gets the effects of the medication too quickly, or vise versa.

Some medications can irritate certain tissues and injecting them subcu could cause damage to the tissue it was injected into.

It really depends on the kind of the medication and the reason why it is given IM vs SC.

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Thanks for your reply. It's pretty much what I thought.

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Specializes in ER, Trauma.

It varies according to medication. Some study said that most IM's given in the buttocks are actually given into fat.

The original Hepatitis B vacines were given in the buttocks but few people developed immunity. They were given another round deltoid and got good results. It was assumed IM's were actually into fat (IF?) which destroyed the vacine or prevented antibodies. (All according to my dentist who experienced this first hand).

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