Forensic and Toxicological Analysis of Pentazocine

The purpose of this work is to review the literature on the analytical aspects of pentazocine-induced drug seizures and intoxication, focusing on the pharmacological, forensic, and toxicological perspectives. A literature search was conducted using PubMed, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, and Scopus databases, for articles published between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2023, using the key terms “Pentazocine,” “Detection,” “Identification,” “Toxicology,” “Analysis,” “Matrix,” and “Forensic.” A total of 56 articles were gathered, with 20 duplicates removed. The authors examined the remaining relevant publications. This systematic review comprised 36 publications, with 4 articles being excluded and summarized. The following information was gathered from the articles by the authors: the number of cases and toxicological findings (samples, analytical procedures, and outcomes). This review concluded that with the help of liquid–liquid extraction and solid-phase extraction, better, faster, and more accurate methods, among which are potentiometry, gas chromatography (GC), liquid chromatography (LC), GC-mass spectrometric (MS), LC-MS, and MS, have been reported in different matrices. These methods can be used for pharmaceutical, forensic, clinical, and toxicological analyses.