The analysis of blood serum for paraldehyde by ultrafiltration and gas chromatography with a wide-bore capillary column.

The techniques of membrane ultrafiltration and capillary column gas chromatography were examined for their applicability to the quantification of paraldehyde in blood serum. Serum samples of standards, controls, and patients were treated with an aqueous solution of internal standard and then deproteinized by passage through a disposable ultrafiltration device. The ultrafiltrates were chromatographed on a wide-bore glass capillary column mounted in a packed column gas chromatograph. The method was shown to have adequate sensitivity, specificity, precision, accuracy, and linearity for therapeutic drug monitoring and toxicological purposes.