Parenteral administration of drugs - the pros and cons

Parenteral administration is the introduction of drugs into the body by "bypassing" the digestive tract. As a rule, it is used in cases when it is necessary to provide assistance immediately, you can even say that it is urgent. The most common term for parenteral administration is the injection of injections (injections) in various ways:

• Intravenous - provides the fastest achievement of the expected effect (2-5 minutes). The amount of medicine that must be entered depends on what the input will be. Up to 100 ml use a syringe, more than 100 ml - a dropper.

• Subcutaneous and intramuscular administration is used when the amount of the required drug is up to 10 ml. The effect is achieved after 10-30 minutes.

• Intraarterial administration is used in those cases when the action of the drug is necessary only on a certain organ, without affecting the rest of the body. With this method, drugs dissolve in the body at a very high rate.

Also, parenteral administration includes applying to the skin medications in the form of creams and ointments, and dropping drops into the nose, and electrophoresis, and inhalation.

Parenteral administration: benefits

The main advantages with parenteral administration of drugs are the accuracy of dosage and the speed of action of the drugs. After all, they act directly into the blood and, importantly, in an unchanged form, unlike enteral (through the mouth) introduction.

When parenteral administration is used, it is possible to treat people who are unconscious or very weak. By the way, parenteral nutrition is used for this type of patients or for those who have a metabolic failure . It is also based on the introduction of nutrient components necessary for the maintenance of life (proteins, glucose, etc.). For many, parenteral nutrition is the so-called diet for metabolic disorders.

disadvantages

• Mandatory medical attendance. Although many people know how to do injections themselves, without resorting to the help of others.

• The possibility of penetration of pathogens into the body during puncture of the skin. Therefore, all tools and solutions must be sterile, and the site of the injection is carefully treated with alcohol or, in extreme cases, with alcohol-containing liquids (drinks or perfumes).

• Appearance of bruises on the spot and bruises. With this effect you can cope by applying compresses from alcohol, halved diluted with water, or a battered cabbage leaf.

• The possibility of embolism is the ingress of air bubbles into the vascular bed, which can lead to death. But with the correct technique of injection, the development of this effect is excluded.

• Many people from childhood have a pathological fear of injections, which may not pass even in adulthood.

But despite its numerous shortcomings, at this time, parenteral administration is the most reliable and effective method of getting drugs into the human body. Therefore, if you have been given a choice - to drink tablets or to prick injections, then you can safely choose the second, because its effectiveness is much higher. And do not be afraid of injections or droppers, because sometimes only their use can save a person's life.