Survey of Emergency Toxicology Screening in a University Medical Center

A survey of emergency toxicology screening was conducted in a university medical center for the year 1978. Of 1503 toxicology screens performed on blood, urine, and a combination of both, 51% (773) were positive for one or more drugs. Ethanol was involved in 34% of the positives; barbiturates, 22%; phenothiazines, 13%; opiates, 10%; phencyclidine, 6%; tricyclic antidepressants, 5%; salicylates, 4%; and benzodiezepines, 4%. Twenty-four other drugs each constituted less than 4% of the positives. Seventy-one percent of the positives involved only one drug each; males comprised 58% of positives; and the most common decade of age range for the positives was 21–30 years (46%). For 57% of the positives the samples were submitted from the emergency unit. Twenty-eight percent of positives were found by toxicology screening of blood alone, 25% by screening of urine alone, and 47% by screening of blood end urine together. The most frequently involved drugs are identified end ranked by frequency of occurrence, sex involved, and association with other drugs.