RAPID AND SPECIFIC PRECOLUMN EXTRACTION HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHIC ASSAY FOR BUPIVACAINE IN HUMAN SERUM

A rapid and specific HPLC assay for quantitative determination of bupi vacaine in human serum is described. The technique incorporates an on- line sample clean-up system followed by reversed-phase chromatography with UV detection. The proposed method uses a column-switching techniq ue and protein-coated Lichrosorb RP-8 as a precolumn together with Lic hrosorb RP-18 as an analytical column, The total run time for an injec tion of serum sample was 10 min. This procedure offers a sensitive ass ay without the need for time-consuming extractions, The average bupiva caine recoveries over a concentration range of 150-600 ng/mL ranged fr om 99.12 to 101.02%, and relative standard deviations ranged from 1.15 to 1.75%.