The Effect of Muscle Contraction to Prevent Induration after Intramuscular Injection of Oily Sustained-Release Preparation

Abstract

Induration after intramuscular injection often causes patients distress. The aim of this study was to clarify the effectiveness of muscle exercise for preventing such induration.

Ten inpatients receiving haloperidol injections were separated into an intervention group and a control group. After the injection, the control group received no intervention whereas the intervention group performed 30 repeated lower limb abduction movements to exercise the gluteus medius.

Two of the five patients in each group developed induration. However, whereas the induration was bilateral in the affected control patients, it was merely unilateral in the affected intervention patients. Awareness of pain upon pressure was evident in the control group, whereas the intervention group were merely aware of injection site incongruity. Furthermore, the induration persisted until four weeks in the control group but disappeared within two weeks in the intervention group. The patients in the intervention group had no difficulty exercising, and the nurses had a positive appraisal of such exercise.

These results suggest that exercise to elicit muscle contraction is effective for preventing induration after intramuscular injection.