Clinical Reflections

Yesterday, I injected steroids into a woman’s shoulder with no help. I diagnosed her, offered her the injection, verbally consented her, re-read about how to do the procedure, and mixed the steroid and anesthetic myself. She was so hysterical at the sight of the needle I had to have the PA I work with hold her hand and head and we tried to lie her down. But in that position, I couldn’t get the needle in the right space. It was stuck in the tendon and only hitting bone, so without taking the needle out, we sat the panicky patient back up and I repositioned until the milky mixture went in smoothly.