A rapid extraction method for acidic drugs in hemolyzed blood.

A simple and efficient method, based on the adsorption properties of octadecasilane bonded silica, is described for the rapid extraction of acidic drugs from whole post mortem blood. The blood was diluted, passed through an extraction column containing the bonded silica and the absorbed drugs were eluted with methanol. Following extraction into diethylether, the drugs were methylated and chromatographed. Recoveries were generally in excess of 80% at the microgram/mL level and the method substantially reduced the quantity of co-extracted lipids normally found in the acid extracts of hemolyzed blood. The procedure proved suitable for up to 2 mL blood and yielded clean extracts for gas chromatographic analysis.