Safety in the administration of an intramuscular injection
a systematic literature review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14528/snr.2020.54.2.3017Keywords:
parenteral drug administration, influential factors, outcomes, patients, nursesAbstract
Introduction: Application of intramuscular injection administration is a frequent nursing intervention associated with potential safety risks for the patient. The aim of the study was to determine the factors related to the administration of an intramuscular injection which influence positive or negative patient outcomes.
Methods: A systematic literature review was performed in PubMed, Medline, ScienceDirect and CINAHL databases. Relevant articles in terms of their content, type of study, accessibility, language and publication by December 2018 were included. The search was conducted using the following keywords: ''patient'', ''dorsogluteal injection'', ''intramuscular ventrogluteal injection'', ''dorsogluteal site'', ''ventrogluteal site'', ''outcome'', ''injury'', ''safety'', ''complications'' and ''pain''. The quality of individual studies was evaluated using the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute tools. The collected data were synthesized with a content analysis method.
Results: From 95 identified hits, 25 were included in the analysis. The findings were grouped into five categories or factors that influence the safety of intramuscular injection administration: characteristics of the ventrogluteal and dorsogluteal injection sites, constitutional characteristics of patients, site selection and insertion point, the technique of intramuscular injection administration, aspiration and factors associated with pain and techniques for reducing the pain.
Discussion and conclusion: It is necessary to know the factors that influence patient outcomes to ensure a safe intramuscular injection administration. Due to the observed shortcomings in clinical practice, the knowledge of health care workers regarding the intramuscular injection administration should be investigated.
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