INJECTION SITES IN THE NECK AREA

Preventing losses due to injection site reactions continues to be extremely important to the beef cattle industry. Injections of drugs or vaccines into the top butt or other locations in the hind legs should be avoided whenever possible. This leaves the neck region as the preferable location for all injections and thus the anatomy of the neck region is important.

Subcutaneous (sub-Q) injections in this region are relatively easy as
the skin is fairly flexible. The skin can be "tented" or pulled up with the fingers of one hand and the sub-Q injection can be administered at the base of the "tent" with the other hand directing the needle and syringe. Be careful not to inject your hand that is holding the "tent." Also, be careful not to push the needle all the way through the base of the tent through the other side, thus injecting the material onto the skin and hair (this obviously will not be effective). Normally, the maximum amount of material injected subcutaneously at a single site should be 10 cc (10 ml) or less. These sites should be about 4 inches apart. Depending on the material injected, a 16 (larger diameter) to a 20 gauge (smaller diameter) needle is preferred for sub-Q injections. For "thick" materials, such as injectable tetracyclines, a 16 or 18 gauge, 1 inch (or less than 1 inch) needles will work well for sub-Q injections in the neck. For "watery" materials, such as vaccines, a 20 gauge needle will work well.

For intramuscular (IM) injections, it is important to understand the anatomy of the neck region in some detail. A drawing of this region appears below. The boundaries of the intramuscular region of the neck are:

1. The vertebrae (neck bones) running down and back from the back of the head to the point of the shoulder. These bones form the bottom of the triangle of muscle available for IM injections.

2. The shoulder blade which runs up from the point of the shoulder to the withers (top of the back line).

3. The nuchal ligament (ligamentum nuchae) which runs from the withers to the back of the neck along the back line.

The triangular region between the structures listed above is what is available for intramuscular injections. Be sure to familiarize yourself with this region on live cattle by pressing on the neck region—you can feel these structures through the skin fairly easily. If you are at all unsure, have your veterinarian go over these areas with you. The amount of material injected should be limited to 10 ml in any one spot and again, spread these sites out by about 4 inches. One to 1 ½ inch needles work well for IM injections and usually 16 or 18 gauge will be preferable.

While it is usually not possible to be sterile around the chute, you should always try to be as clean as possible. When vaccinating cattle, change needles every 10 animals or sooner. Always change as soon as a needle becomes obviously dirty. Color copies of the picture in this article are available from the CCA. These can be laminated and placed by the chute or other working areas as an easy reminder of the anatomy of the neck region of cattle. Also, if you have not been through a basic Quality Assurance course contact the CCA or your local cattlemen's association, as this material and much more is covered in-depth in that program. It's worth the time to do it right, for your cattle, for the consumer, and for your bottom line!

John Maas, DVM, MS
Diplomate, ACVN & ACVIM
Extension Veterinarian
School of Veterinary Medicine
University of California, Davis