BMJ  2006;332 (18 March), doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7542.0-c

Longer needles needed for gluteal intramuscular injections

Because of increasing obesity, gluteal muscles may be beyond the reach of standard green and blue needles in many patients. In a retrospective study, Nisbet (p 637) examined gluteal intramuscular injection sites of 100 consecutive patients who had had computed tomography of the pelvis. He found that muscle depth was greater than the maximum reach of a green needle (35 mm) at the ventrogluteal and dorsogluteal sites in 12 and 43 patients respectively. In 26 and 72 patients the site depths were more than 25 mm (extent of a blue needle). Nisbet recommends that intramuscular gluteal injections should be avoided for most drugs or longer needles should be used.

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Relevant Article

Intramuscular gluteal injections in the increasingly obese population: retrospective study

Andrew Charles Nisbet
BMJ 2006 332: 637-638. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]