title: Sedative drug surveys in coma: how reliable are they?
abstract: Routine blood tests of comatose patients for drugs that depress the CNS are highly desirable, but techniques of analysis are not well standardized and the results do not correlate well with clinical condition. Determining the role of sedative drugs in coma requires a high degree of suspicion and sound clinical judgment.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001463:Barbiturates / Q000097:blood; D001774:Blood Chemical Analysis / Q000379:methods; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003128:Coma / Q000097:blood / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000401:mortality; D006801:Humans; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives / Q000097:blood / Q000506:poisoning*; D007223:Infant; D008875:Middle Aged; D009294:Narcotics / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D001463:Barbiturates; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives; D009294:Narcotics