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Complications after intramuscular injections.

The most common complications after intramuscular injections are lumps, bruises, and pain symptoms.

The reasons for such complications may be:

too short a needle,
blunt needle,
incomplete insertion of the needle into the tissue,
multiple injections in one specific place,
vascular injury,
nerve injury,
violation of the antiseptic treatment of the injection site,
ingress of conditionally pathogenic microflora from the skin surface,
ingress of infectious agents from the surface of the needle,
slowed down immune responses.

Compaction after injection (in medical terminology - infiltration) is formed as a result of the ingress of a medicinal solution not into muscle tissue, where it is quickly absorbed, but into the layer of subcutaneous fatty tissue, where there are practically no conditions for absorption (fatty layer is poor in blood supply). Long-term presence of the drug in the subcutaneous fat layer can cause inflammatory processes, the result of which will be abscess formation of the tissue.

For the treatment of seals after injections (but not at the time when signs of a developing abscess are noticed ), it is necessary to carry out warming procedures (dry heat, not baths): alcohol compresses to the seals, a heating pad, iodine nets. Warming procedures cause an expansion of the vascular bloodstream, which enhances blood circulation and lymph flow. In case of signs of tissue abscess formation, heating is not carried out, and in no case should the injection sites be steamed, this creates conditions under which the skin becomes looser, which allows the purulent-inflammatory process to spread easily to neighboring areas. Redness of tissues, swelling and pulling, twitching pains indicate the beginning of the process of tissue abscess formation and require contacting a surgeon.

A hematoma or bruise is formed when a blood vessel is damaged and requires the use of lipophilic, anticoagulant and absorbable ointments (Heparin, Troxevasin). Such drugs are used not immediately after the injection, but the next day, since a prerequisite for their use is the absence of a violation of the integrity of the tissues (a puncture is also a violation of the integrity of the tissues), otherwise bleeding from the injection site is possible.

The pain symptom with damage to nerve fibers can be relieved with a cold heating pad. The cold will reduce the sensitivity of the nerve endings, as well as narrow blood vessels and prevent hematoma from forming. But you should not get carried away with cool compresses, since they do not contribute to the resorption of the drug and the resulting infiltrate, which can increase the risk of the formation of interstitial seals.