Detection of volatile solvents in gastric contents by gas phase infrared spectrophotometry.

A standard procedure for the identification of volatile solvents in the gas phase by infrared spectrophotometry has been modified and applied to the analysis of gastric contents. A 10 ml sample of the vapor from the gastric aspirate is removed with a hypodermic syringe, injected on a spectrophotometer from 2.5 to 15 nm. The sample is then identified by comparison with known reference spectra. Solvent concentrations cen be estimated by comparing the ratios of the major peaks.