Drug abusers and addicts form a challenge to the anesthetist because of the added potential risks involved in the administration of anesthesia to this subset of patients, including potential unforeseen drug-drug interactions. In this study, we aimed at screening all patients scheduled for elective orthopedic or general surgeries at the Cairo University Teaching Hospital during a set period of time for the most commonly abused drugs in Egypt.
All patients included in the study consented to take part in this study. Each patient was asked to answer a questionnaire and submit a urine sample in order to be screened for the most commonly abused drugs in Egypt (hashish, tramadol, benzodiazepine, and morphine). Patients were then followed up both intra and post-operatively. Values of patient vital signs, Richmond Agitation-Sedation Scale (RASS) scores as well as clinical recovery scores (CRS) were all diligently recorded and analyzed.
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment
500
Urine was then tested for evidence of substance abuse using the multi-drug screen panel dip steak ABONtm (Abon Biopharm (Hangzhou) CO., Ltd) which is a lateral flow chromatographic immunoassay . It allowed for qualitative detection of multiple drugs in a single run. This kit was chosen for its ability to detect the most commonly abused substances in Egypt, namely: opioids, benzodiazepines, hashish, and tramadol. A single coloured line at region C for of a specific drug indicated a positive result, whilst two coloured lines at both regions C and T indicated a negative result. The absence of coloured lines was an indication of the invalidity of the particular kit, and the kit was discarded.
Cairo University
Cairo, Giza Governorate, Egypt
urine analysis
multi-drug screen panel dip steak (Abon Biopharm (Hangzhou) , Ltd)
Time frame: THREE MONTHS
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