What Do Doctors Do with the Remaining Botox when They Only Use 10-15 Units from a 50 Unit "Single-unit" Vial of Botox?

Curious how it works when you get only say 10-20 units of botox, what happens to the rest of the product they did not use on you? Can it be reused with a new syringe/needle on another patient? How does this work and is it sterile to reuse the vials??

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16 Doctor Answers | Asked by Plumpassat in Salt Lake City

Doctor Answers (16)
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Left over botox

As the Botox liquid in the bottle is not contaminated from a sterile syringe that is used to draw up the liquid, the left over Botox is then used for the next syringe which is a fresh, sterile syringe and needle. The bottle is dated and refrigerated. In busy practices the bottle only lasts a day to a few days and its effectiveness is not compromised. Don't confuse this with a situation if there would happen to be left over Botox in the syringe aftere your treatment. That doesn't... more

Units of botox

The average area treated typically requires 10-30 units of botox cosmetic. Botox from the same vial can be used to treat multiple areas in the same patient or multiple patients. As long as proper sterile technique is used to prepare the botox solution and to inject the botox, it is perfectly safe to administer botox to multiple patients from the same vial. In a busy botox practice. Such as mine, once the vial is prepared, it usually is empty within 24 hours of preparation and never sits... more

Dosage of Botox, how is the product stored

Botox comes in 50 unit and 200 unit vials. If only 10 or 20 units are used from a 50 unit vial, the remainder is stored (refrigerated) for a few days. The product is removed with a new sterile needle each time so there is no risk of contamination. Best wishes, Dr.Bruno

Botox

When Botox is used it is drawn up sterily from the vial and the specific amount needed is drawn up for that patient. But, it is also used for other individuals used under the same conditions.

Steven Wallach, MD

12 reviews

Manhattan Plastic Surgeon

There is not such thing as left over.

The vial comes sterile, is reconstituted in a sterile fashion, and drawn up using sterile technique. There is no issue using these vials to prepare injections for multiple treatments. However, BOTOX is best used within 4 hours of reconstitution. Beyond this time frame, practitioners will often dispose of the remainder of the vial. The Allergan company has done tests that show the product has virtually no loss of strength for 2 weeks. By using sterile techniques,... more

Kenneth D. Steinsapir, MD

8 reviews

Los Angeles Oculoplastic Surgeon

BOTOX® is very stable

Over the past 20 years that BOTOX® has been on the market for cosmetic and therapeutic indications, systems and procedures have been developed for the safe and effective administration of this medication. The desired dose is drawn up under sterile conditions from the vial and administered to the patient using a very fine needle, generally 30 or 31 gauge. The remaining BOTOX® is stored under sterile conditions until it is needed for another patient. Experience has shown that, when... more

What Does my MD do With Old Botox Vials?

Hi Plump. As many of the other practitioners have explained, the use of a Botox for multiple patients is performed in a way as to keep the product sterile. The most basic explanation is that the needles used to inject the Botox are not reinserted into the Botox vial once they have been used on a patient. This ensures that the sealed vial remains sterile. Botox does expire once it is mixed with saline and we usually use it within 1-2 days of mixing. The... more

Harold J. Kaplan, MD

4 reviews

Los Angeles Facial Plastic Surgeon

www.celibre.com

Remaining Botox remains sterile in vial

A syringe is used to draw up the desired amount of Botox for each patient from the vial of Botox. The rest remains sterile in that vial until more is drawn up with another syringe for the next patient and so on until the vial is empty. This is called a multi-dose vial.

Multi-dose vials mean multiple patients per vial.

Botox comes in a 50 or 100U vial in the us. It is mixed up with saline and drawn into syringes as it is used. We never "re-load" a syringe that has been in the patient. But one vial can treat more than one patent. We buy the 100 U vials and get 2-3 patients out of it.

Ritu Chopra, MD

4 reviews

Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon

drrituchopra.com

Botox

I typically draw up how ever much of Botox that I need and then the rest I refrigerate. Typically in most practices, Botox sits in the the refrigerator for just a few days because it gets used up pretty quick. For example, we open a new bottle almost every morning and sometimes many times during the day. Dr. Ben Behnam.