Barbiturate detection using thin-layer chromatography.

NilEDICATIONS are one of the leading causes of fatal and nonfatal poisonings. Of all medications, salicylates (in children) and barbiturates (in adults) are most frequently involved in these poisonings. When these occur, the physician treating the victim may request a chemical analysis of a blood sample to confirm his clinical impression. A salicylate analysis is simple and rapid (1). However, a barbiturate determination is nonroutine, fairly elaborate, and beyond the facilities of most clinical laboratories (2). Thin-layer chromatography is suggested as a new technic that will permit the average laboratory to analyze biologic materials for barbiturates with relative ease and economy. Procedure Reagents