Intramuscular injection disadvantages

Alternative options are increasingly favoured in the form of oral iron polymaltose complexes. These are more expensive but attractive in that complications are less frequently encountered and the lethal toxicity that follows release of large amounts or ionic iron into the circulation does not occur. Carbonyl iron is not often used but available in some countries. In contrast combinations with vitamins and cobalt, still popular in certain areas, have no documented advantage and add quite unnecessary cost. Other routes are intramuscular injections and, except where oral administration is precluded, have disadvantages in that mobilization is unpredictable. Conversely, it is feasible to replace iron as a single total dose infusion but such procedures need to be given under supervised conditions. It is reiterated that the rate of rise in haemoglobin that follows adequate oral replacement is comparable to that achieved par-enterally. 

Potential disadvantages of intramuscular injection are the deposition of the preparation in adipose tissue... 

One disadvantage is that intramuscular injection can result in localized (at the site of injection) pain. Furthermore, when drugs arc administered intramuscularly by a person who is not formally trained to do so, the risk of infection from irritating drugs and tissue damage is high. 

The most commonly used chelation therapy agents in the United States today are EDTA and DMSA (or succimer). In addition, penicillamine (PCA) and BAL are used to chelate lead. Each of these agents has numerous disadvantages, ranging from undesirable methods of delivery (intramuscular injection of BAL and intravenous delivery of EDTA), to unpleasant side effects (typically nausea and vomiting), to chelation and increased excretion of necessary metals (e.g., iron and zinc) (Table XIX) (17, 207, 525). 

Two water-soluble analogs of dimercaprol have been studied as lewisite antidotes. They are meso 2,3-dimer-captosuccinic acid (DMSA) and 2,3-dimercapto-l-pro-pane sulfonic acid (DMPS). These two drugs circumvent two major disadvantages associated with treatment with BAL the need for intramuscular injection and limitation of dose by toxicity. 

Sometimes, the herbal extracts will be injected to the adult fish/shrimps by intramuscular injection. This is a crude method, mainly used for the purposes of research involving bacterial and viral infection, and a lower concentration, such as 100 pg, is normally used. The extracts are mixed with saline water, especially phosphate buffered saline (PBS) and injected into the fish/shrimps. The disadvantage of this method is that it creates stress. 

Advantages of the intramuscular and subcutaneous routes include an increased reliability and precision in the drug blood level Anally achieved and reasonably rapid absorption and onset of drug action. There are, however, serious disadvantages as well. Pain, tenderness, local tissue necrosis (primarily with highly alkaline injections), microbial contamination, and nerve damage may be associated with these forms of parenteral administration. 

Subcutaneous injections usually have a lower rate of absorption and slower onset of action than intramuscular or intravenous injections. The rate of absorption may be enhanced by infiltration with the enzyme hyaluronidase. Disadvantages of subcutaneous injection are as follows ... 

The disadvantages of 4-DMAP are (1) the appearance of necrosis in the area of injection after intramuscular administration and (2) the possibility that extremely high levels of methemoglobin may occasionally result. Increases in pain, fever, and muscle enzymes also occur after intramuscular administration of the drug. 4-DMAP has been reported to produce positive results in the Ames test, which suggests that the compound may be a mutagen. PAHP appears to be the safest phenone of the series.62... 

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