Availability of Toxicologic Screening Tests in the Emergency Department.
- Author:
In Kyung UM
1
;
Jong Su PARK
;
Kap Su HAN
;
Hanjin CHO
;
Sung Hyuck CHOI
;
Sung Woo LEE
;
Yun Sik HONG
Author Information
1. Department of Emergency Medicine, Korea University College of Medicine, Korea. hanks96@hanmail.net
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Intoxication;
Screening;
Emergency department
- MeSH:
Acetaminophen;
Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic;
Benzodiazepines;
Drug Evaluation, Preclinical;
Emergencies;
Humans;
Korea;
Mass Screening;
Retrospective Studies
- From:Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
2011;9(1):26-29
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
PURPOSE: The role of a point of care test (POCT) is currently becoming important when treating patients and making decisions in the emergency department. It also plays a role for managing patients presenting with drug intoxication. But the availability of the test has not yet been studied in Korea. Therefore, we investigated the utility and the availability of POCT for drug screening used in the emergency department. METHODS: This was a retrospective study for those patients with drug intoxication between January 2007 and December 2010 in an urban emergency department. RESULTS: Between the study period, 543 patients were examined with a Triage(R)-TOX Drug Screen. Among those, 248 (45.7%) patients showed negative results and 295 (54.3%) patients showed positive results. The sensitivity of the test for benzodiazepine, acetaminophen and tricyclic antidepressants were 85.9%, 100%, 79.2%, respectively. CONCLUSION: POCT of drug screening in emergency department showed good accuracy especially in patient with benzodiazepine, acetaminophen and tricyclic antidepressant intoxication. Therefore, it can be useful diagnostic tool for the management of intoxicated patients.
