|  | Family Health | Family Planning

Ovidrel Instructions

Ovidrel is a registered trademark of EMD Serono (the biopharmaceutical division of Merck KGaA, a German worldwide pharmaceutical company) for an injectable form of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) produced via recombinant DNA technology. This naturally occurring hormone is used in fertility treatments. It helps human eggs finish maturing and stimulates the ovaries to release them. It also triggers production of progesterone, the hormone that prepares the uterus for implantation of a fertilized egg. Patients undergoing fertility treatments inject Ovidrel subcutaneously (just under the skin) with a pre-filled syringe.

Things You'll Need

  • Ovidrel prefilled syringe
  • Alcohol swabs
  • Gauze
  • Bandage tape
  • Scissors
  • Sharps disposal container
Show More

Instructions

  1. Preparation

    • 1

      Take the pre-filled Ovidrel syringe out of the refrigerator. Let it warm up to room temperature.

    • 2

      Wash your hands in hot soapy water. Dry them on a clean cloth towel or paper towel.

    • 3

      Hold the syringe with the needle pointing upward. Remove the cap. Keep the needle sterile: don't touch it or let it touch anything.

    • 4

      Tap the syringe until any bubbles rise to the top. Remember to hold the syringe with the needle pointing upward. Push the plunger gently and slowly until a small drop of liquid starts to come out the end of the needle.

    • 5

      Find a spot in your lower abdomen near your navel, but at least an inch away. Remove the alcohol swab from its packaging. Clean your chosen injection site with the swab. Let the alcohol evaporate.

    Injection

    • 6

      Hold the syringe in one hand with the tip of your index finger on the end of the plunger, your thumb on one side of the syringe and the rest of your fingers on the other side. Pinch the skin on your injection site and hold it firmly.

    • 7

      Insert the entire needle into your skin with the needle pointing up at a 45 to 90 degree angle. Take your other hand off the injection site, then push the plunger slowly and steadily until all the medicine is injected. Don't hurry.

    • 8

      Withdraw the needle from your skin once you've injected all the medicine. Press the injection site with a gauze pad. Place a clean piece of gauze on the injection site if bleeding continues longer than a few minutes. Cut a piece of bandage tape and fasten the gauze to your abdomen.

    • 9

      Open your sharps disposal container and discard the syringe. (Your sharps container is the red plastic box your doctor gave you for disposal of needles and other sharp medical waste.) Don't reuse the syringe or allow anyone else to use or touch it. Once it's been used, it's no longer sterile.

    • 10

      Follow any other instructions your doctor has given you for what to do after your Ovidrel injection. Contact your doctor if you need further directions.

Family Planning - Related Articles