Comparative use of three electrokinetic capillary methods for the determination of drugs in body fluids. Prospects for rapid determination of intoxications.

Three electrokinetic capillary methods, micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography, capillary zone electrophoresis and capillary isotachophoresis, are shown to be well suited for the rapid screening and confirmation of drugs in serum and urine of patients with medical drug overdoses (intoxications), situations where rapid identification without precise quantification is needed. Patients' samples obtained from the emergency care unit were analysed in an instrument featuring on-column, fast forward-scanning multi-wavelength detection and the data were compared with those obtained by conventional methods. The drugs studied included salicylate, acetaminophen (paracetamol) and antiepileptics. In cases with high drug concentrations, body fluids can be injected directly or may have only to be diluted (urine) or ultrafiltered (serum) prior to analysis, providing results within about 30 min. Thus, electrokinetic capillary methods can be employed for rapid drug screening, provided that instrumentation with a database for peak identification is available.