When do you aspirate during an injection?

When do you aspirate during an injection?

• A. Right before anesthetic is deposited
• B. During injection
• C. After anesthetic is deposited
• D. Before loading cartridge

Answer: (A)

Aspiration is used to check for intravascular placement before delivering the anesthetic dose. In practice, you penetrate the tissue and then aspirate to see if blood enters the syringe. If the aspiration is negative, you proceed to deposit the anesthetic, usually in small increments. If blood is drawn, you remove the needle, reposition, and start again with a new cartridge in a different spot. Depositing the anesthetic during the injection defeats the purpose of checking where the needle tip is, and aspirating after deposition risks delivering into a vessel already injected. Aspirating before loading is not relevant to the technique, and you don’t aspirate before loading the cartridge.

Aspiration is used to check for intravascular placement before delivering the anesthetic dose. In practice, you penetrate the tissue and then aspirate to see if blood enters the syringe. If the aspiration is negative, you proceed to deposit the anesthetic, usually in small increments. If blood is drawn, you remove the needle, reposition, and start again with a new cartridge in a different spot.

Depositing the anesthetic during the injection defeats the purpose of checking where the needle tip is, and aspirating after deposition risks delivering into a vessel already injected. Aspirating before loading is not relevant to the technique, and you don’t aspirate before loading the cartridge.