Purpose:
To investigate the effect of an intramuscular injection on serum levels of cardiac markers in adult emergency department patients.
Methods:
Thirty emergency department thought to have conversion syndrome were given an IM injection of 10 mL of normal saline. Patients with cardiopulmonary symptoms such as dyspnoea and chest pain were excluded. The study patients had blood drawn for serum levels of creatine kinase, creatine kinase-MBr Troponin-T, and myoglobin just before the IM injection, and one, two, and three hours after injection.
Results:
None of the cardiac markers increased significantly (p>0.05) within the three-hour observation period in the ED.
Discussion:
Serum levels of cardiac markers are not significantly increased after an intramuscular injection of 10 mL of normal saline.
Keywords: Intramuscular injection, myoglobin, creatine kinase, troponin-T, creatine kinase-MB