Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Clinical Trial
. 2010 Dec;105(6):480-4.
doi: 10.1016/j.anai.2010.09.028.

Intelliject's novel epinephrine autoinjector: sharps injury prevention validation and comparable analysis with EpiPen and Twinject

Stephanie Guerlain  1 , Lu Wang, Akilah Hugine
Affiliations
Clinical Trial

Intelliject's novel epinephrine autoinjector: sharps injury prevention validation and comparable analysis with EpiPen and Twinject

Stephanie Guerlain et al. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2010 Dec.

Abstract

Background: Currently marketed epinephrine autoinjectors (EAs) are prone to misuse that may lead to injury or a missed dose. A novel EA (NEA) (Intelliject Inc) was created to reduce such injuries by including features such as a unidirectional perceived injection end and a retractable needle.

Objectives: To validate the sharps injury prevention features of the NEA and to obtain feedback on, and preference for, features of the NEA compared with Twinject and EpiPen.

Methods: Twenty-eight health care professionals experienced with using the EpiPen or Twinject each injected 18 NEAs into an orange and provided confirmation of needle injection and retraction. Half of the injections were conducted using wet hands to replicate diaphoretic hands or wet environmental conditions. Participants provided feedback via a post-test questionnaire and gave ordinal preference rankings for the NEA, EpiPen, and Twinject based on shape, size, ease of use, ease of training, and overall preference. Participants also described known cases in which the Twinject or EpiPen was not correctly administered.

Results: For all 505 tested NEAs, the needle injected and retracted as intended. For overall preference, 100% of the experienced health care practitioners ranked the NEA first. Half of the participants recalled incidents in which the EpiPen or Twinject did not work as intended or caused an injury.

Conclusions: The sharps injury prevention feature was verified for the NEA, and health care professionals experienced in the use of EpiPen and Twinject for allergic emergencies perceived the NEA to be a safer and preferred alternative.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Novel epinephrine autoinjector.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

References

    1. Guerlain S, Hugine A, Wang L. A comparison of 4 epinephrine auto-injector delivery systems: usability and patient preference. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2010;104:172–177. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Gosbee LL. Nuts! I can’t figure out how to use my life-saving epinephrine auto-injector! Jt Comm J Qual Saf. 2004;30:220–223. - PubMed
    1. Mehr S, Robinson M, Tang M. Doctor: how do I use my EpiPen? Pediatr Allergy Immunol. 2007;18:448–452. - PubMed
    1. Sicherer S, Forman J, Noone S. Use assessment of self-administered epinephrine among food-allergic children and pediatricians. Pediatrics. 2000;105:359–362. - PubMed
    1. Sicherer S, Simons F. Self-injectable epinephrine for first-aid management of anaphylaxis. Pediatrics. 2007;119:638–646. - PubMed

Publication types