OPIATE 'DIPSTICKS' for screening Pregnant patients with an unreliable
history.
Our drug liaison midwife and obstetric consultants are insisting on using
'Surestep' for drugs of abuse; mainly for Opiates in order to ensure that
Naloxone is not given to mothers who are suspected of, but deny, the use of
Opiates.
Our Trust POCT working group is arranging guidelines, operating procedures
and QC and EQA schemes.
Our own DOA screening is done on our Roche Integras but the cut off values
are different.
Roche Pos / Neg cut-off is 300 and Surestep Cut-off is 1000
Can a cut-off of 1000 be considered suitable for contra-indication of
Naloxone treatment or are they wasting their time ?
Does anyone have experience of DOA screening in pregnancy as a Point of Care
test.
Francis Evans ( [log in to unmask] )
Clinical Chemistry
Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust
Truro
Cornwall
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