Why Should We Choose Ventrogluteal Site for Intramuscular Injection?

Abstract

Administration of intramuscular injections is aresponsibility of the professional nurse, and is aninvasive procedure. In the literature, there arenumerous reports of complications related tointramuscular injections improperlyadministered. Common complications includeskeletal muscle fibrosis and contracture,abscesses at the injection site, gangrene andnerve injury. After reviewing the literature, it canbe stated that nurses received no education morethan their basic training on how to administerinjections through the intramuscular route, andthere is a wide variation in the procedures usedby the nurses to prepare and administermedications.The majority of the nurses prefer to use thedorsogluteal site for intramuscular injections,and they consider the site safe. However, theventrogluteal site is better for intramuscularinjections from many points of views. It wasrecently advocated as the primary site of choicefor intramuscular injection. The studies carriedout among nurses suggest that nurses areunaware of the advantages of the ventroglutealsite and do not consider the site safe forinjections.In the present article, we reviewed relatedliterature and discussed study findings related toidentification and selection of injection site,complications, and positioning in order to raiseawareness about the use of the ventrogluteal site