Gas chromatographic analysis of meperidine and normeperidine: determination in blood after a single dose of meperidine.

A method is described for the determination of meperidine and its pharmacologically active metabolite, normeperidine, in blood, plasma, and urine using gas chromatography with nitrogen-phosphorus detection. Structural analogs of both meperidine and normeperidine were used as internal standards. Unlike previously reported assays, this procedure was sensitive and convenient enough for use in pharmacokinetic studies of both meperidine and normeperidine following single doses of meperidine. The assay was sensitive to 5 ng of meperidine/ml and 2.5 ng of normeperidine/ml extracted from a 1-ml biological sample. The between-assay coefficients of variation at these concentrations were 9.4 and 10.4%, respectively.