Sammanfattning
BACKGROUND. In many clinical situations it is useful to measure drug levels in patient samples. The purpose of this survey was to obtain an overview of the therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) analyses offered by Norwegian laboratories.
MATERIAL AND METHOD. At the end of 2011, the authors of this article called all the public and private hospitals in Norway, and identified their laboratories. All clinical biochemistry and pharmacological laboratories were contacted and asked to state which drug analyses (including drugs of abuse and toxic alcohols, but excluding metabolites) they performed in blood/serum at the time in question. The overview thus obtained was updated and quality assured by means of further contact with the laboratories in August 2012.
RESULTS. Around 80 laboratories were contacted. In August 2012, 49 of them performed analyses of drugs in blood/serum. Altogether, these laboratories offered analyses of 151 different substances. This article provides an overview of the analyses that were carried out, and where.
INTERPRETATION. The overview presented here can be used as a tool in everyday practice. However, the user must be aware that the analytical repertoire of the laboratories is constantly changing. A web-based, dynamic version is currently being planned.