1) It is immunization day at the health center. The first patient is a 2-month-old well female infant who is scheduled for the following vaccinations: pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV), pentavalent vaccine (Penta), and oral polio vaccine. PCV and Penta are given via the intramuscular route. Where are the sites of injection? What muscle is targeted in the injection? Write down its origin, insertion, and action. How do you locate this area?
For the given vaccination, it is crucial to think of the age of the child or infant getting the vaccine. With that being said, the target muscle and the sites of injection for the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) and pentavalent vaccine (penta) would be the “vastus lateralis muscle” in the anterolateral thigh and outer right upper thigh, respectively.
The vastus lateralis muscle originated from the greater trochanter and linea aspera of the femur, and it inserts at the patella through the quadriceps tendon and then the tibial tuberosity via the patellar ligament. This muscle acts to extend the leg at the knee joint and it can be found by doing the following:
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Locate the greater trochanter of the femur by using separate borders.
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Make an imaginary box on the upper leg.
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Find the groin; one hand’s width below the groin becomes the upper border.
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Place a hand above the knee to find the bottom border.
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Use the side border, mid-anterior thigh to mid-lateral thigh, to inject.
2) The baby’s 65-year-old grandfather also came to the center because the influenza vaccine is being offered to senior citizens. The flu vaccine is given intramuscularly. Which muscle is the preferred site for IM injection in this case? Write down its origin, insertion, and action. How do you locate this area?
For the 65-year-old grandfather of the baby, the preferred muscle for the site of injection would the the “deltoid muscle.” The deltoid muscle, located in the shoulders, originates from the acromial extremity of the clavicle, acromion of the scapula, and spine of the scapula; it inserts at the deltoid tuberosity of the humerus and it helps in the abduction of the shoulder joint, flexion, and extension. Its injection site is in the middle of the deltoid muscle, below the acromion process.