INTRAMUSCULAR DELTOID INJECTION ABSCESS IN PATIENTS PRESENTED TO A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL IN KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA

OBJECTIVES: To find out the reasons of deltoid injection abscess in female patients and disseminate awareness in our population. METHODS: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in the female Outpatient Department of surgery at Khyber Teaching Hospital, Peshawar, Pakistan from April 2017 to December 2017. All female patients with age more than 14 years who presented with deltoid injection abscesses on either arm were included and patients with diabetes, bleeding disorders, major debilitating disorders or immune-compromised conditions were excluded. All patients were interviewed regarding the Intramuscular injection technique and data was collected on a structured proforma and analyzed on SPSS 20. RESULTS: A total of fifty female patients were studied in which 56% were in the age group of 26-45years with mean age 35.5±12.93 years, 14 (28%) qualified and 36 (72%) non-qualified personnel administered the injection. It was injected over the sleeve in 41 (82%) patients while in only 9 (18%) patients the arm was exposed properly. The reasons for insignificant exposure came out to be social reasons in 9 (18%), time deficiency in 9 (18%), improper trained personnel in 19 (38%), tight sleeves in 4 (8%) patients. In 9 (18%) patients aseptic measures were used while in 41 (82%) patients no aseptic measures were taken. CONCLUSION: Mostly patients received intramuscular injection over the sleeves due to simple avoidable reasons from local practitioners due to lack of awareness