Drawing medicine out of a vial

To get prepared:

• Gather your supplies: medicine vial, syringe, alcohol pad, sharps container.
• Make sure you are working in a clean area.
• Wash your hands.

Carefully check your medicine:

• Check the label. Make sure you have the right medicine.
• Check the date on the vial. Do not use medicine that is out of date.
• You may have a multi-dose vial. Or you may have a vial with powder that you mix with liquid. Read or ask about instructions if you have to mix your medicine.
• If you will use the medicine more than once, write the date on the vial so you remember when you opened it.
• Look at the medicine in the vial. Check for a change in color, small pieces floating in the liquid, cloudiness, or any other changes.

Prepare your medicine vial:

• If this is your first time using this medicine, take the cap off the vial.
• Wipe the rubber top clean with an alcohol pad.

Follow these steps to fill the syringe with medicine:

• Hold the syringe in your hand like a pencil, with the needle pointed up.
• With the cap still on, pull back the plunger to the line on your syringe for your dose. This fills the syringe with air.
• Insert the needle into the rubber top. Do not touch or bend the needle.
• Push the air into the vial. This keeps a vacuum from forming. If you put in too little air, you will find it hard to draw out the medicine. If you put in too much air, the medicine may be forced out of the syringe.
• Turn the vial upside down and hold it up in the air. Keep the needle tip in the medicine.
• Pull back the plunger to the line on your syringe for your dose. For example, if you need 1 cubic centimeter (cc) of medicine, pull the plunger to the line marked 1 cc on the syringe. Note that some bottles of medicine may say mL (milliliters). One cc of medicine is the same amount as 1 mL of medicine.

To remove air bubbles from the syringe:

• Keep the syringe tip in the medicine.
• Tap the syringe with your finger to move air bubbles to the top. Then push gently on the plunger to push the air bubbles back into the vial.
• If you have a lot of bubbles, push the plunger to push all the medicine back into the vial. Draw medicine out again slowly and tap air bubbles out. Double check that you still have the right amount of medicine drawn up.
• Remove the syringe from the vial and keep the needle clean.
• If you plan to put the syringe down, put the cover back on the needle.

Administering injections; Giving a needle; Giving insulin

Higgins T. Procedures. In: Higgins T, Arastu AS, Auerbach PS, eds. Medicine for the Outdoors: The Essential Guide to First Aid and Medical Emergencies. 7th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2024: 469-477.

Amundsen GA. Local anesthesia. In: Fowler GC, ed. Pfenninger and Fowler's Procedures for Primary Care. 4th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2020:chap 5.

Updated by: Linda J. Vorvick, MD, Clinical Professor, Department of Family Medicine, UW Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA. Also reviewed by David C. Dugdale, MD, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.