The Toxicology Laboratory is a section of the Division of Clinical Pathology in the Department of Pathology at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. The Toxicology Laboratory is inspected and accredited by the College of American Pathologists. All policies and procedures meet or exceed those standards as established by CAP.
Location: The Toxicology Laboratory is located in the Department of Pathology on the second floor of the Research Wing, within the School of Medicine, Room R212. However, all specimens must be submitted to the Clinical Laboratory in the same manner as any other laboratory specimens.
Telephone:
- 984-1614, weekdays 7:00am-4:30pm
- After 4:30pm, weekends, holidays, call Poison Control 984-1675 and a technician will be paged.
Any inquiries pertaining to this lab should be directed to the following:
- William Daley, MD, Director……………………………………Ext. 42374
- Patrick Kyle, PhD, Associate Director ....................................Ext 42352
- Lee Spencer, BS (CFT), Chief Technologist......……………..Ext. 41614
After hours: The Toxicology Laboratory is staffed Monday thru Friday, 7:00am – 4:30pm, excluding official Medical Center holidays. A technician is on-call 24 hours daily for all requests of STAT after hours testing.Please refer to the UMC Intranet OnCall scheduling website for the technologist on call for the Toxicology Department at:
http://paws.umc.edu/OnCall/Schedule.ctrl?action=Now
Objective: The Toxicology Laboratory performs analyses of patient specimens for attending physicians for the purpose of facilitating patient management. A comprehensive quality control and performance improvement program is maintained on all analyses.
This is the only laboratory to provide comprehensive clinical toxicology services, on a STAT and routine basis, in the State of Mississippi. We have personnel available 24 hours daily to conduct tests, answer questions, and assist in the understanding of test results. The laboratory has been equipped with Gas Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid Chromatography, and Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectroscopy instrumentation that allows for a wide array of analytical testing.
Consultations: If any problems should arise, or any special circumstances occur, please contact the section director at 42374. A Toxicology Lab technician is on-call 24 hours daily and Pathology attending staff and residents are available 24 hours daily for problems. See the “After Hours” section listed above for contacting lab personnel. See current monthly call schedule for after hours, weekends and holiday access to Pathology staff and residents.
STAT Results: STAT toxicology samples are processed as quickly as possible with preference given to Emergency Room samples. Depending on the complexity of the request, some toxicological tests require 2-4 hours. STAT requests should be reserved for tests needed in a life threatening situations.
Routine Requests: The Toxicology Lab offers a variety of routine tests that are offered daily.
Collection of Specimens: Urine is the preferred specimen for the screening of therapeutic drugs and/or drugs of abuse, if available. Serum/plasma is the preferred specimen for the screening and quantitation of volatile substances, i.e. ethanol, isopropanol, ethylene glycol, etc. If any information such as concentration, quantity of drug(s) ingested, degree of exposure, impairment, etc. is needed a blood specimen is required. The Reference Laboratory Testing section within Clinical Lab provides reference needs for testing not performed at this institution. See Reference Laboratory Testing Section.
Many chemical and physical factors affect the ability of a substance to be detected. Factors such as chemical structure, concentration, sample matrix, sample preparation, instrumentation, etc. all play a key role in substance detection. It is always best to provide the laboratory with as much pertinent clinical information as possible to assist in the correct application of analytical abilities. If a particular direction is not given the lab, as broad a screen as possible is conducted to include the greatest number of substances. However, this may exclude the one specific substance that is actually clinically important without the input of interested clinicians.
Different Types of Body Fluids for Toxicological Analysis:
Urine: Urine is the preferred specimen for the screening of therapeutic drugs or drugs of abuse, if available. Normally, toxicants are removed from the blood and deposited into the bladder allowing for a greater detection window via urine. Obvious exceptions exist.
Whole Blood: Whole blood is preferred in instances where chain of custody guidelines must be followed. Please call lab prior to collection of any specimens where chain of custody guidelines may be required.
Serum or Plasma: Drugs of abuse, volatiles, therapeutic drugs, etc. can be screened for using serum or plasma. Serum or plasma is the preferred specimen only for volatile screens. Drug screening is much more difficult, costly, and time consuming when using serum or plasma as a specimen. Unless the ingestion is very recent, i.e. 0.5 – 1 hour, urine is the best specimen for screening.
Gastric Contents: Gastric contents can be screened for the presence of drugs from a recent ingestion. Please collect prior to administration of charcoal and do not allow specimen and charcoal to mix. It is usually best to collect the first specimen removed.
Notice to all outreach facilities: The proper preservation of specimens is critical to accurate measurements. All specimens collected for the Toxicology Lab must be refrigerated as soon as possible following collection. In unique situations drugs can continue to be metabolized in blood while in the presence of normal enzymes following collection. Storage at room temperature does not stop the process.