Needle length and incidence of local reactions to immunisation

doi:10.1136/bmj.322.7284.492

BMJ 2001;322:492 ( 24 February )

Letters

Needle length and incidence of local reactions to immunisation

How quickly can research change practice?

Further research is needed before practice is changed

Needle gauge is more important than needle length

Authors' reply

Is there a real benefit for the child?

How quickly can research change practice?

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR $---$ The paper by Diggle and Deeks was fast tracked in the hope of avoiding the five year delay that often occurs betweenthe emergence of new evidence and a change in practice.¹

I think that in this case there has already been major delay. A Medline search quickly produces several papers on this subject.Ipp et al noted that more redness and swelling occurred in childreninjected in the thigh with a 16 mm needle than with a 25 mm needle.²

The nature of the evidence also needs to be considered. This study used a standardised injection technique, but other techniquesare used in practice, and Groswasser et al reported that injectiontechnique is the most important variable in ensuring efficientdelivery of intramuscular vaccine.³ Consequently, the injectiontechnique chosen determines the appropriate needlesize.

The question of which needle length is preferable has been around for a long time, . . . [Full text of this article]

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This article has been cited by other articles:

Diggle, L., Deeks, J. J, Pollard, A. J (2006). Effect of needle size on immunogenicity and reactogenicity of vaccines in infants: randomised controlled trial. BMJ 333: 571- [Abstract] [Full text]