Periodically, in the life of every person, situations happen when it is impossible to do without painkillers. It can be various injuries, inflammatory lesions, neurological problems. Regardless of the reason, there is a need - to stop the pain. NSAIDs do an excellent job of this. Very often injections "Voltaren". Patient reviews indicate the drug as a highly effective tool.
Drug description
The active substance of the drug "Voltaren" is diclofenac sodium. This is a non-steroidal compound with pronounced properties:
- anti-inflammatory
- anti-rheumatic
- antipyretic,
- painkillers.
The drug inhibits the biosynthesis of prostaglandins. Namely, they play a major role in the occurrence of pain, inflammation, and fever in a person. This property is the main mechanism of action of the drug "Voltaren".
With rheumatic pathologies, the effect of the drug can reduce the symptoms of the disease. Less swelling is felt, pain is reduced, joint functioning is improved.
The analgesic effect after drug administration is manifested, as a rule, after 15-30 minutes. The medicine is able to eliminate migraine attacks. In addition, Voltaren injections were used in patients in postoperative and post-traumatic conditions. They can significantly alleviate pain, reduce swelling caused by wounds and inflammation.
Medication
Voltaren injections are widely used in medical practice. Indications for use of this tool are as follows:
- inflammatory processes in the genitourinary system;
- rheumatism, arthritis;
- childbirth (used as an analgesic medicine);
- algodismenorea;
- bouts of gout;
- middle ear inflammation;
- hepatic and renal colic;
- neuralgia;
- radiculitis;
- migraine attacks;
- myalgia;
- postoperative period (acts as an analgesic);
- oncological pathologies (is the strongest analgesic).
Recommended Dosages
The drug "Voltaren" in this dosage form is prescribed exclusively by specialists. Injections are used only during inpatient treatment. The drug has a large number of certain nuances. Therefore, with self-medication, this tool is not used.
Two types of drug administration can be prescribed:
- intramuscular;
- intravenous.
The dosage completely depends on the course of the pathology and individual patient tolerance of the Voltaren drug (injections). The course of treatment is two days. Longer injections are prohibited. If necessary, further therapy is continued with suppositories or tablets.
The main recommendations for intramuscular administration:
- After opening, you must immediately apply the solution. If the contents are left unused, then this medicine should be disposed of.
- Each ampoule is used for a single administration.
- The recommended dose is usually 75 mg - one ampoule per day.
- With severe pathologies (for example, colic), the norm can increase. In this case, two injections of 75 mg are allowed to be used during the day. Between injections, a time interval of several hours is necessarily observed. A second injection is recommended in another buttock.
- Sometimes, to enhance the analgesic effect (for example, with severe migraine attacks), Voltaren injections are combined with suppositories or tablets. In this case, the maximum daily dose cannot be more than 175 mg.
Side effects
Despite the high effectiveness of the drug, the patient may experience unwanted reactions. So testifies the drug "Voltaren" (injections) instruction. Reviews of patients largely confirm the manifestation of side effects.
Unpleasant reactions that may occur during injection are usually the following:
- Disruption of the digestive tract. Patients may experience the occurrence of pain in the abdomen, vomiting, lack of appetite. Some patients complain of a change in stool shape. Sometimes ulcers appear.
- Malfunctions of the cardiovascular system. Patients may experience increased pressure, pain in the chest. Some patients experience tachycardia.
- Changes in the functioning of the nervous system. When treating with this drug, headache, dizziness may occur. Sometimes patients experience a loss of ability to navigate in space. Possible memory lapses. Some patients feel sleep disturbance, the occurrence of a depressive state.
- Disturbances in the senses. Deafness may occur, taste sensations may change. Some patients indicate impaired vision.
The above side effects that may accompany the use of this drug are quite serious. That is why this tool is used exclusively for the doctor's prescription and only in stationary conditions.
Contraindications
There are many known conditions and pathologies in which "Voltaren" - injections are not prescribed. Contraindications to use must be taken into account by the attending physician.
Not bad if the patient himself knows about them. Especially if, contrary to all recommendations, he is self-medicating.
So, injections of the drug "Voltaren" are contraindicated in:
- Hypersensitivity to the components of the drug.
- The occurrence of asthma attacks, acute rhinitis, urticaria after taking the medicine "Acetylsalicylic acid." In this case, the patient is contraindicated in any NSAIDs.
- Active ulcer of the stomach, intestines, bleeding or perforations.
- Severe renal, hepatic failure.
- Inflammatory bowel pathologies - ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease.
- Heart failure, in severe form.
- High risk of postoperative bleeding.
- Pregnancy (in the third trimester).
- Postoperative pain after coronary artery bypass grafting.
Possible overdose
It is extremely dangerous to use the Voltaren medicine (injections) unlimitedly. Typical clinical signs of overdose are absent. Sometimes the patient may experience vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness. In some cases, gastrointestinal bleeding, cramps or tinnitus are observed.
In severe poisoning, the patient has liver damage and renal failure.
Treatment in cases of overdose requires symptomatic. First of all, all measures should be aimed at eliminating the following consequences:
- renal failure;
- hypotension;
- cramps
- respiratory depression;
- gastrointestinal disorders.
Analogues of the drug
If the need arises, the doctor will recommend certain drugs that can replace Voltaren injections. Analogues with a similar effect and composition, it is completely undesirable to select on their own. It is better to seek the support of a doctor.
Effective analogues are:
- Diclofenac.
- "Artrex."
- Diklak.
- Diclonate.
- "Veral."
- Ortofen.
Patient Reviews
You can get an idea of the advantages and disadvantages of the medicine only by experiencing Voltaren injections. Reviews of people who used the drug are able to clarify the picture. Therefore, we consider what opinion has developed among patients about this tool.
Almost all people note, along with a beneficial effect, significant disadvantages of the drug.
The benefits include:
- The ability of the drug to quickly stop the pain syndrome.
- A variety of dosage forms (after injections, you can easily switch to suppositories or tablets).
But, unfortunately, the Voltaren injections have many shortcomings. Patient reviews indicate the following disadvantages:
- soreness and inflammation at the injection site;
- often there is an expression of the gastrointestinal mucosa;
- a large number of contraindications and side effects;
- the likelihood of developing allergies (observed quite often).
Thus, we can summarize how appropriate it is to use Voltaren injections. Patient reviews really indicate the ability to quickly get rid of excruciating unbearable pain.
Therefore, this medicine can be used exclusively in short courses. Given all the contraindications and unpleasant side effects, it is worth using the drug only as directed by the doctor.
In addition, Voltaren injections are a prescription drug. This can protect patients from the thoughtless use of such a serious drug.
Conclusion
Numerous contraindications and severe adverse reactions do not prevent the drug "Voltaren" to be one of the most popular anti-inflammatory drugs. However, the use of these injections is resorted to only in extreme cases. Often, such injections are prescribed to patients at the very peak of pathology. For example, in case of exacerbation of arthritis. After which the patient is transferred to tablets, rectal suppositories or capsules, the active substance of which is diclofenac sodium. Despite the similar composition, such dosage forms have fewer adverse effects. Therefore, complications are much less common.