Therapeutic drug monitoring can provide information useful in tailoring drug therapy to the individual patient. A clinical need for TDM may arise from a lack of therapeutic response, suspected drug toxicity, or the desire to confirm a therapeutic approach.
Diagnostic Services can arrange for analyses of serum or plasma concentrations of digoxin, gentamicin, phenobarbital, potassium bromide, procainamide, quinidine, theophylline, cyclosporine A and other therapeutic drugs along with interpretation of results by the clinical pharmacologist. Advance notification is required if test results are urgently needed.
For more information about available tests and submission requirements, please contact the laboratory at 902-566-0863 or visit the Available Tests section of this website.
Laboratory Submissions Forms
A Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Submission Form is available from Diagnostic Services. When submitting samples for analysis, all information requested on the form should be provided. This is particularly true when requesting a consultation.
Assay Schedule
TDM test samples should arrive at Diagnostic Services before 10 AM on the day the assay is to be run.
| 1. Digoxin | Referred* – Daily |
| 2. Gentamicin | Referred*- Daily |
| 3. Phenobarbital | Daily |
| 4. Potassium Bromide | Tuesday and Friday |
| 5. Procainamide | Referred* |
| 6. Quinidine | Referred* |
| 7. Theophylline | Referred* |
| 8. Cyclosporine A | Referred* |
Other therapeutic drugs can be measured by special request with Diagnostic Services.
*Referred samples are sent by Diagnostic Services on to other laboratories for testing. The test results for samples that are sent out of province may take 7-10 days. Please ask the Diagnostic Services staff for the expected turn-around-time for your particular test and indicate the urgency of the result.