Just ordered another round of Adequan for my horse. I have always injected deep into the neck muscle (moving sites within the safe zone), with the needle perpendicular to the surface. Saw another boarder injecting Adequan and she put the needle in at an angle, not injecting so deeply. Of course we both checked that we weren’t in a vein.
She didnt know why she did it that way, and I dont recall particular directions from the vet. Is one way preferred over the other and why? O does it not matter?
I spent thirty years teaching (human) injection techniques. The needle should be perpendicular to the skin for an IM injection. This is also how I was instructed for IM horse injections.
An interesting side note is that because of the bevel of the needle tip, needles frequently do not always track straight. The tip of the inserted needle can end up being significantly off of the expected long axis, especially for smaller gauge and longer needles. So in theory a needle inserted at an angle might actually not be lying deeply in the muscle at all. So perpendicular to the skin overlying the muscle gives the most predictable IM drug administration.
It is not labeled for subq but a lot of vets say it’s fine to do. I injected my dog’s subq and it worked well. I think there is a study on dogs that showed 95% effectiveness vs IM.
With SQ injection the absorption is delayed but as said above PSGAG still reaches therapeutic levels in canines. My theory is that small animal veterinarians advise dog owners to use the SQ route due to owner reluctance to choose injection sites and to give IM injections to their pets. SQ is simply easier, and if you go a bit too deep it turns into IM anyhow.
Horse owners, on the other hand, seem to handle giving IM injections quite well.
It’s safer for the dogs and owners. Dogs are small and its easier to hit something you shouldn’t doing IM and horses don’t bite you very often when you give them a shot, lol.
Needle perpendicular.
We have always alternated between neck and pectorals. Right neck. Right Pec. Left Pec. Left neck. etc.
One of mine is tense for injections. I use a new 22G needle (not the one used in the bottle), and sometimes when his neck is like a rock, it doesn’t necessarily track that straight. Long enough needle and the right place, and you should still get into muscle.
If he’s really nervous, I just give it in the pecs. He’s more of a white coat syndrome type and it’s just the anticipation that bothers him more than the injection itself usually.
Years ago, a trainer injected my horse incorrectly and the horse developed an abcess. The vet then gave me lessons on how to inject my horse with Adequan because I wanted to do it myself. He suggested giving the shot at a slight upward angle. The reason was that if any kind of an abcess developed it would drain more easily. I personally do that and insert the needle with the pointed part at the bottom. I don’t remember why I do that. I use a 1.5 inch needle more toward the center and base of the neck, in the triangle. All that said, I’ve been giving adequan regularly for over two decades and never had a needle abcess myself.
I’ve not heard of this but it sounds like a good idea. I don’t understand the last sentence, though. Could you elaborate? Thank you!
The track of an injection needle tends to be in the direction away from the bevel.
The same is true of horseshoe nails. Bevel side faces the inside of the hoof so that the nail will track outwards toward the hoof wall rather than inwards toward the hoof laminae. Many horseshoe nails have a mark on the head of the nail to indicate the beveled side of the nail. My farrier taught me this.
That makes sense. So you you face the needle bevel upward or downward? I have always inserted it with the bevel upward but at an upward angle.
As LCDR pointed out, I was talking about the bevel. The needle is beveled at the end. I have always injected slightly upward and with the bevel on top, but I am not certain whether I was originally told to insert the needle with the bevel on top or on the bottom. It’s been too long.
Thank you… I get it now. I think I mentally skipped over “bevel”.
A big thank you to LCDR. I am older than Methuselah and am amazed how much I still have to learn. You are a great teacher.
Perfect! Thanks.
Agreed!
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