Discharge Instructions: Giving an Intramuscular (IM) Injection in the Buttock
Your doctor has prescribed a medication that must be given by intramuscular (IM) injection. IM injections use a needle and syringe to deliver medication to large muscles in your body. IM injections are usually given in the buttock, thigh, hip, or upper arm.
You were shown how to perform an IM injection in the hospital. If you did not receive an instruction sheet covering those general steps, ask for one. This sheet is to remind you or your caregiver how to give an IM injection in the buttock. Injections in the buttock area are also called gluteus medius or dorsogluteal injections. Giving an injection in this area of the body requires the help of another person.
Name of your medication: ____________________________________________.
Amount per injection: ___________________________________________.
Times per day: __________________________________________.
Before you Begin
Locate and Prepare an Injection Site
Start by finding the area where your leg bone inserts into your hip. You will feel a bony area that is about the size of a golf ball. This area is located in the low, outside region of your hip at the place where your leg meets your hip.
Next, find the posterior iliac crest. This is a bony ridge on the upper inside of your buttock, close to where your spine meets your buttocks.
Draw an imaginary diagonal line between the two bones.
Locate the center of the imaginary line and then find a point 1 inch above the center of this line. This is where you will put the needle.
Prepare the site as you were shown by your doctor or nurse. (See the general instruction sheet on giving yourself an IM injection. If you did not receive this sheet, ask for one.)
Inject the Medication
Stretch the skin tight.
Hold the syringe like a dart. Insert the needle at a right (90°) angle to your skin.
Give no more than 3 ml (or cc) of medication in this site. If the prescribed dose is more than 3 ml, you will need to give the injection in two parts.
Dispose of the materials as you were shown by your doctor or nurse.
Wash your hands.
Follow-Up
Make a follow-up appointment as directed by our staff.
When to Call Your Doctor
Call your doctor right away if you have any of the following:
Needle that breaks off in the injection site
Problems that keep you from giving yourself the injection
Bleeding at the injection site that won’t stop
Severe pain at the injection site
Medication injected into the wrong area
Rash or swelling at the injection site
Shortness of breath
Fever above 101.0°F