What Happens If An Injection Missed The Muscle?

Most vaccine shots target specific muscles. Once the vaccine is in the muscle cells, it instructs these cells to create a spike protein of the vaccine. In response, the body produces antibodies that can recognize and fight the disease you’re vaccinating against if you come into contact with it.

When a vaccine shot misses the muscle, it might lead to pain, bruising, swelling, and infection. If you experienced complications after a missed muscle injection, you might file a lawsuit against the healthcare provider who gave you the injection. Consider getting help from a vaccine attorney to discover all your legal options.

Introduction to Intramuscular (IM) Injections

Intramuscular injections are shots that deliver medicine directly into the muscle. The injection is used when intravenous injections can’t be administered because the drug irritates the vein or a suitable vein can’t be located.

With IM injections, the body also absorbs drugs faster because muscle tissues have a greater blood supply than tissues under the skin. Intramuscular injections are usually used to administer vaccines because vaccines are supposed to travel through that type of tissue.

Signs of a Wrong Intramuscular Injection

When a physician administers a wrong intramuscular injection, you can show different signs, including:

• Bruising
• Swelling
• Potential infection
• Nerve ending damage
• Abscesses at the injection site
• Pain where the injection was administered
• Damage to the tissue surrounding the area of injection

If you show these signs after a vaccine shot, seek immediate medical attention.

What Are The Complications of Improper IM Injection?

Incorrectly administered intramuscular injection can cause severe complications. The damage can happen if the needle penetrates an artery, hits the nerve, reaches the bone, or delivers the medication too quickly.

You might experience:

• Muscle damage: If the injection is too shallow, doesn’t reach the target muscle, and instead hits the surrounding tissues, the surrounding muscle might be damaged. This might lead to pain, swelling, or bruising.
• Nerve damage: Other times, improper injection can damage nerves in the vicinity, causing pain, tingling, numbness, or weakness where you were injected
• Paralysis: In rare cases, injection into a critical nerve could lead to paralysis.
• Abscesses: If the injection site gets contaminated, the patient can swell, causing pus collection

Besides all the complications, improper IM injection may reduce a vaccine’s effectiveness.

What happens if an intramuscular injection is administered incorrectly?

Other times, the injection might penetrate deep to hit the bone. In such cases, the patient might face complications such as fractures, breaks, infection, and tissue damage.

If the physician administers the IM injection too high, it might not reach the muscle tissue, leading to pain and discomfort. On the other hand, injections that are too deep might penetrate further, causing bruising, bleeding, or infection.

Legal and Medical Recourse for Incorrect Injections

If your healthcare provider administered an improper injection that resulted in severe complications, you can file a lawsuit. You might need a vaccine lawyer’s advice on your rights and options for filing a claim.

Instead of filing a lawsuit, some claimants can qualify for compensation through the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP).

Call a Vaccine Injury Attorney to Discuss Your Legal Option

If you want more information about claiming compensation after your physician missed the muscle in an IM injection, consider talking to a vaccine attorney. We’ll help you discover your legal options.

Call (888) 921-3995 for free consultation or schedule an online inquiry today.