r/pharmacology • u/nowlistenhereboy • Jun 14 '21

What is the reason why intravenous epinephrine must be diluted more than intramuscular in the setting of cardiac arrest?

Just curious what the physiological reason is that 1:1000 epinephrine is not to be used for cardiac arrest/active CPR.

14 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/hockeystar357 Jun 14 '21

It's so the full dose makes it to circulation. A few years ago there was a shortage of the premixed epinephrine syringes used during codes. Many hospitals ended up simply giving the regular concentration followed immediately by 10 mL NS. So the dilution has nothing to do with the physical aspects of the drug but rather making sure the body receives a full dose.