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Subcutaneous
Injection
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The equipment you
will need to assemble includes:
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a 1 ml.
syringe with a 25 or 26 gauge capped needle between
5/8" and 1 inch in length;
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the
medication to be given
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two alcohol
wipes.
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Carefully, wash and
dry your hands.
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If your medication
comes in a multi-dose vial,
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clean the rubber
diaphragm of the vial with an alcohol wipe. Discard
the wipe into the trash.
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Remove the cap from
the needle. Pull down the plunger of the needle
until the syringe contains the same volume of air
as the medication you are going to give.
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Hold the vial
upside down at eye level. Without touching the
needle, insert it through the diaphragm of the
vial.
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Keep the tip of the
needle below the level of the medication in the
vial. Depress the plunger to inject the air into
the vial.
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Slowly pull down on
the plunger to take into the syringe the amount of
medication prescribed for you.
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Pull the needle out
of the vial.
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Hold the syringe
vertically and flick the barrel with a fingernail
to make any air bubbles float to the top under the
needle.
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Carefully, depress
the plunger to push out the air until the first
drop of medication comes out of the bevel of the
needle.
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Clean the injection
site with an alcohol wipe. Start at the proposed
site. Wipe in a circular motion, moving outward
with each circle to prepare an area 2-3 inches in
diameter around the injection site. Let the alcohol
dry and discard the wipe into the trash.
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Insert the needle
through the skin at a 45° angle so that the
tip of the needle is under the skin and above the
muscle layer.
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Gently pull back on
the plunger to make sure the tip of the needle is
not in a blood vessel ...
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...and then slowly
inject the medication.
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When all the
medication is injected, pull the needle out. There
is no need to use a band-aid, unless blood appears
at the injection site.
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Discard the syringe
and attached needle into your puncture proof Sharps
container. Do not recap the needle.
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Wash and dry your
hands.
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If during the
injection, blood does appear in the syringe when
you pull the plunger back,
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pull the needle out
and discard the syringe, needle and medication into
your Sharps container and start the whole process
again.
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Your doctor or
nurse will advise you which areas of the body to
use for your injections. The injection site should
always be rotated so that consecutive injections
are never given into the same area.
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If you have very
little fat under your skin, you can pinch the skin
to form a tent, into which the injection can be
given.
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The needle is then
inserted more vertically.
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