TAC topical anesthesia produces positive urine tests for cocaine
✍ Scribed by Michael Altieri; Stuart Bogema; Richard H Schwartz
- Book ID
- 104310980
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 1990
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 219 KB
- Volume
- 19
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1097-6760
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
The combination of tetracaine, adrenalin, and cocaine (TAC) has become increasingly popular as a topical anesthetic for the suturing of simple skin lacerations. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of TAC on a urine drug ~est for cocaine. On the morning after the use of TAC, 14 of 18 patients'(78%) studied had positive screening tests for benzoylecgonine (cocaine metabolite) by the enzyme multiplied immunoassay test (EMIT ~) method. All specimens also were analyzed by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry, the reference standard for analysis of drugs of abuse in urine, and 15 of the specimens (83%) were positive. Four of 18 positive specimens (22%) still had positive EMIT ® drug screens on the morning of the next day, an average of 36 hours after use of TAC. We recommend that physicians who use TAC solution as a local anesthetic caution their patients that they may fail a urine drug screen for cocaine if they are tested w~thin 36 to 48 hours of the administration of the use of TAC.