Even a few ml of an LA drug injected into a vein can cause cardiac arrest.

Question: How can you minimize the risk of accidental injection of LA drugs into a vein or artery?

Answer: Before administering any drug by the intravenous (IV) route, you must always check and re-check that it is the correct drug that you are injecting, because you could easily pick up a syringe containing a LA drug by mistake and inject it into the vein.

Even a few ml of an LA drug injected into a vein can cause cardiac arrest.

By always aspirating prior to injecting the local anaesthetic, you can minimise the risk of accidental injection into a vein or artery, as you will notice blood in the syringe when you aspirate.