Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30546922›Full record

ReviewBio-design and manufacturing2018

A narrative review of the success of intramuscular gluteal injections and its impact in psychiatry.

Erfan Soliman, Sarujan Ranjan, Tianyou Xu, Carol Gee, Aidan Harker, Alvaro Barrera, John Geddes

Abstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Bio-design and manufacturing, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
24citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

24 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Thigh Injections of Cabotegravir + Rilpivirine in Virally Suppressed Adults With HIV-1: A Substudy of the Phase 3b ATLAS-2M Study.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2025
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  16. Challenges in delivering therapeutic peptides and proteins: A silk-based solution.Journal of controlled release : official journal of the Controlled Release Society · 2022
    Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Erfan Soliman *1Department of Engineering Sciences, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Old Road Campus Research Building, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 7DQ UK.ORCID 0000-0002-8668-3660
Sarujan Ranjan *1Department of Engineering Sciences, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Old Road Campus Research Building, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 7DQ UK.ORCID 0000-0002-1632-2675
Tianyou Xu *1Department of Engineering Sciences, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Old Road Campus Research Building, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 7DQ UK.ORCID 0000-0001-9091-3396
Carol Gee2Warneford Hospital, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Warneford Ln, Oxford, OX3 7JX UK.
Aidan Harker2Warneford Hospital, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Warneford Ln, Oxford, OX3 7JX UK.
Alvaro Barrera2Warneford Hospital, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Warneford Ln, Oxford, OX3 7JX UK.
John Geddes3Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Warneford Hospital, Warneford Ln, Oxford, OX3 7JX UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

There are 12 billion injections given worldwide every year. For many injections, the intramuscular route is favoured over the subcutaneous route due to the increased vascularity of muscle tissue and the corresponding increase in the bioavailability of drugs when administered intramuscularly. This paper is a review of the variables that affect the success of intramuscular injections and the implications that these success rates have in psychiatry and general medicine. Studies have shown that the success rates of intended intramuscular injections vary between 32 and 52%, with the rest potentially resulting in inadvertent subcutaneous drug deposition. These rates are found to be even lower for certain at-risk populations, such as obese patients and those on antipsychotic medications. The variables associated with an increased risk of injection failure include female sex, obesity, site of injection, and subcutaneous fat depth. New guidelines and methods are needed in order to address this challenge and ensure that patients receive optimum care. Looking forward, the best way to improve the delivery of intramuscular injections worldwide is to develop uniform algorithms or innovative medical devices to confirm or guarantee successful delivery at the bedside.

Indexed as

AntipsychoticComputed tomographyGlutealIntramuscular injectionSubcutaneousUltrasound

Identifiers

PMID30546922
PMCPMC6267269

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.