Abstract
The injury caused due to the intramuscular (IM) mode of drug administration are still affecting population in rural area more than urban area. The IM injection given in any quadrant except the upper outer quadrant of buttock most commonly damages the sciatic nerve because of its course and extent in the injection prone site. The iatrogenic sciatic nerve injury because of IM injection in dorsogluteal site is a matter of concern all over the world covering the undeveloped, developing and developed countries. The iatrogenic sciatic neuritis causes severe neurological or motor deficits leading to the medico-legal consequences. An 8-year-old male child, post dorsogluteal IM injection for mild fever and cold, presented left lower limb weakness and pain in left gluteal region. The patient underwent the medical and physiotherapeutic management for 14 months. The medical management included the initial dose of steroids and ox carbamazepine along with methylcobalamine and folic acid. The physiotherapeutic intervention concentrated on the functional independency of child. The patient attended complete physiological and functional recovery by the end of 14th month concluding that sometimes waiting for lesion to resolve is better than intervention. The iatrogenic sciatic neuritis is a complication that needs attention for prevention following intramuscular drug administration technique.
Highlights
Intramuscular (IM) injection is considered as one of the important mode of drug administration
The site of drug administration as well as the drug administered play an important role in recognising the injection induced complications
The patient presenting the injection induced neuritis may present the symptoms ranging from paresis to complete paralysis, mild to severe pain, sensory loss and motor involvement along with poor prognosis
Summary
Intramuscular (IM) injection is considered as one of the important mode of drug administration. The body follows an auto-repair mechanism which allows the lesion caused to the nerve to repair itself during the course of recovery One such unique case is reported of an 8-year-old male child presenting with left lower limb weakness and pain in left gluteal region caused immediately after dorsogluteal IM injection for mild fever and cold [2]. Patient was apparently alright 2 month back when he developed mild fever with cold for which he sought opinion from local physician who administered some medication via intramuscular route to left gluteal region He felt intense pain after injection and started to feel sudden onset of weakness in left lower limb. The normal functional independency of the patient was observed by the end 14 months from the initiation of treatment with improvement of power in each muscle group of lower limb. While assessing the patients ability in terms of independence, no adverse and unanticipated events were observed
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