Adverse effects of dorsogluteal intramuscular injection versus ventrogluteal intramuscular injection: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
María Teresa Roldán-Chicano, Javier Rodríguez-Tello, Raquel Cebrián-López and 2 others
PMID 37452553WHAT IT FOUND
The ventrogluteal site caused significantly less pain, bleeding, and hematoma than the dorsogluteal site.
However, it did not lower the risk of accidentally injecting into fat instead of muscle. Needle length must still be chosen based on patient body mass index.
Key findings
01Pain, bleeding, and hematoma were significantly lower at the ventrogluteal site compared to the dorsogluteal site.
02Despite having thinner subcutaneous tissue, the ventrogluteal site did not significantly reduce the risk of subcutaneous injection compared to the dorsogluteal site.
03For obese patients, a 50 mm needle is estimated to be necessary to reach muscle depth, as standard needles may not penetrate the adipose tissue.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The review included mostly quasi-experimental and cross-sectional studies, with only two randomized controlled trials. Blinding of participants and personnel was not possible in the included trials, introducing potential bias in pain reporting. The analysis relied on indirect measures of injection accuracy (tissue thickness) rather than actual drug bioavailability or clinical effectiveness. Serious complications like sciatic nerve injury were not directly compared because such events are rare and poorly documented in the included studies.
Declared interests
None declared.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume the ventrogluteal site is safer for drug absorption or accuracy. While it causes less pain and bleeding, the risk of accidentally injecting into subcutaneous fat instead of muscle is not significantly lower than with the dorsogluteal site.