Administering medications ????

[Joy in Texas]

I know the difference between intramuscularly ( given in muscle) and subcutaneously ( given under the skin ).
My question is what would happen if the subcutaneously was given in the muscle ? Or the intramuscularly was given under the skin ?
Would it really hurt the animal ? Has anyone ever done this ?

 

[milkmaid]

Sometimes the ones that are labeled for deep IM injection are labeled that way because they'll cause a lot of swelling if given SC. As long as the injection goes into the animal it's going to be absorbed... IM is absorbed faster than SC, so there are times when you want to keep things like that under consideration. Also, for a lot of the antibiotics, they're labeled for use the way they were tested for withdrawal times. Nuflor, for instance, has a significantly longer withdrawal time when it's given SC than when it's given IM (think it's 10 days different).

 

[Joy in Texas]

Sometimes the ones that are labeled for deep IM injection are labeled that way because they'll cause a lot of swelling if given SC. As long as the injection goes into the animal it's going to be absorbed... IM is absorbed faster than SC, so there are times when you want to keep things like that under consideration. Also, for a lot of the antibiotics, they're labeled for use the way they were tested for withdrawal times. Nuflor, for instance, has a significantly longer withdrawal time when it's given SC than when it's given IM (think it's 10 days different).

Thanks Milkmaid, I just wasn't sure of the difference.
Glad you're back !
Joy

 

[msscamp]

My question is what would happen if the subcutaneously was given in the muscle ? Or the intramuscularly was given under the skin ?
Would it really hurt the animal ? Has anyone ever done this ?

The benefit of the drug is dependent on the absorbtion capacity, and that is dependent on the method of delivery - subQ vs IM vs IV. To give a drug IM that should be given subQ will, if I remember my vet tech days, slow down the absorbtion and could cause some significant problems as the drug will be slower to deliver. To give a drug subQ that should be given IM would speed up the absorbtion process and could cause a decrease in effectiveness, as well as an overload of that drug. So - to answer your question, yes, it could hurt the animal. If a drug that should be given IM is given IV it could very well kill the animal - and the opposite is true, as well. Always, always read the label and administer the drug accordingly.

 

[Joy in Texas]

My question is what would happen if the subcutaneously was given in the muscle ? Or the intramuscularly was given under the skin ?
Would it really hurt the animal ? Has anyone ever done this ?

The benefit of the drug is dependent on the absorbtion capacity, and that is dependent on the method of delivery - subQ vs IM vs IV. To give a drug IM that should be given subQ will, if I remember my vet tech days, slow down the absorbtion and could cause some significant problems as the drug will be slower to deliver. To give a drug subQ that should be given IM would speed up the absorbtion process and could cause a decrease in effectiveness, as well as an overload of that drug. So - to answer your question, yes, it could hurt the animal. If a drug that should be given IM is given IV it could very well kill the animal - and the opposite is true, as well. Always, always read the label and administer the drug accordingly.

Thank you msscamp,that is what I wanting to know. Not that I have ever made that mistake yet. I was wondering what would happen if it did happen. The husband doesn't see all that well anymore. He grab the bottle of subQ and I caught in time. He was going to inject it in the muscle.
Thanks again
Joy