Measuring barbiturates, sedatives, and anticonvulsants in serum by gas-liquid chromatography.

We describe a method for measuring therapeutic and overdose levels of barbiturate, sedative, and anticonvulsant drugs in serum by gas-liquid chromatography (GLC). This method is a unique combination of techniques including a simple extraction, cochromatography of the specimen with authentic carrier drugs, and the use of multiple dissimilar gas chromatographic columns. In this way, a large number of drugs may be identified and quantitated without confusion.