-1
$\begingroup$

Bad Guy is fighting the Good Guy. Good guy miraculously produces a syringe and rams it into the Bad Guy's neck.

Cut, From my middle school biology I aware that capillaries are present throughout the body but I severely doubt that sedatives work by using them anywhere and everywhere. If so we're the case then why would doctors need to find my vein to give me a shot for flu?

Yes, I'm not fun to watch movies with.

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
2
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ At least in my experience, having recieved a number of vaccinations over my life, they're almost always given intramuscularly, rather than intravenously. You may be confusing vaccinations with the drawing a blood sample from a vein, where you want to draw out a relatively large quantity of blood. $\endgroup$
    – jamesqf
    Dec 16 '18 at 17:46
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ On further thought, the fact that sedatives will work (almost) anywhere is demonstrated by the wide use of tranquilizer guns in wildlife management: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tranquillizer_gun $\endgroup$
    – jamesqf
    Dec 17 '18 at 19:09
1
$\begingroup$

There are three basic types of injections:

  • intravenous (IV): An injection straight into the blood stream. Fast, but as you pointed out, one needs to find the vein first. If you are hospitalized, you will likely have a catheter in your vein already, so that you can be given drugs rapidly if needed.

  • intramuscular (IM): This is your second best option for fast effect. There is plenty of capilary vessels in your muscles because they need a good circulation to function (get oxygen in & carbondioxide out). This helps your body also to take up drug injected in your muscle and there is little delay until they enter the blood stream.

  • subcutan: this is used when you are aiming for slow uptake.

Assuming that you envision some sort of combat situation where good guy cannot just start looking for a vein on bad guy's arm, IM seems to be a reasonable choice. If they are in a fight, Bad guy will have a high pulse, so the drugs should get into the blood stream fairly quickly.

See further: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Injection_(medicine)

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.