title: Injecting 1000 centistoke liquid silicone with ease and precision.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Since the Food and Drug Administration approved the use of the 1000 centistoke liquid silicone, Silikon 1000, for intraocular injection, the off-label use of this injectable silicone oil as a permanent soft-tissue filler for facial rejuvenation has increased in the United States. Injecting liquid silicone by the microdroplet technique is the most important preventive measure that one can use to avoid the adverse sequelae of silicone migration and granuloma formation, especially when injecting silicone to improve small facial defects resulting from acne scars, surgical procedures, or photoaging.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To introduce an easy method for injecting a viscous silicone oil by the microdroplet technique, using an inexpensive syringe and needle that currently is available from distributors of medical supplies in the United States.
  
  
  METHODS
  We suggest the use of a Becton Dickinson 3/10 cc insulin U-100 syringe to inject Silikon 1000. This syringe contains up to 0.3 mL of fluid, and its barrel is clearly marked with an easy-to-read scale of large cross-hatches. Each cross-hatch marking represents either a unit value of 0.01 mL or a half-unit value of 0.005 mL of fluid, which is the approximate volume preferred when injecting liquid silicone into facial defects. Because not enough negative pressure can be generated in this needle and syringe to draw up the viscous silicone oil, we describe a convenient and easy method for filling this 3/10 cc diabetic syringe with Silikon 1000.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We have found that by using the Becton Dickinson 3/10 cc insulin U-100 syringe, our technique of injecting minute amounts of Silikon 1000 is facilitated because each widely spaced cross-hatch on the side of the syringe barrel is easy to read and measures exact amounts of the silicone oil. These lines of the scale on the syringe barrel are so large and clearly marked that it is virtually impossible to overinject the most minute amount of silicone.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Sequential microdroplets of 0.01 cc or less of Silikon 1000 can be measured and injected with the greatest ease and precision so that inadvertent overdosing and complications can be avoided.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA. avb@benedettoderm.com
authors.forename: Anthony V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Benedetto
authors.forename: Alan T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Lewis
mesh_terms: D004129:Dimethylpolysiloxanes / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004348:Drug Labeling; D006801:Humans; D010316:Particle Size; D015361:Rhytidoplasty; D012827:Silicone Oils / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D012828:Silicones / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D013594:Syringes
chemical_list: D004129:Dimethylpolysiloxanes; D012827:Silicone Oils; D012828:Silicones; C013830:baysilon