Comparative study of ventrogluteal and dorsogluteal sites on pain following intramuscular injection

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare the incidence, severity, and duration of reported pain following the administration of · sterile water (2cc) by intramuscular injection into the ventrogluteal and dorsogluteal sites. The sample consisted of 16 adult healthy volunteers. Subjects received a single injection of sterile water at each site in a cross-over fashion. lmmedia~ely following the injection and· at specific time intervals the subjects rated their pain utilizing a· visual analog (VAS) and verbal descriptor (VDS) scale. T-test for dependent samples revealed differences (Jl.=.015) between the sites in the incidence of pain overall assessed by VDS. Two-way ANOVA showed differences (g,=.0001 to g,=.0007) for site and time for the severity of pain overall assessed by bo_th scales. Chi-Square test revealed differences (g,=.028) for 15 min. and (g,=.049) for 720 min. time intervals assessed by VDS and VAS respectively. The dorsogluteal site was reported by the participants to be less painful.