A critical review of solid-phase microextraction applied in drugs of abuse determinations and potential applications for targeted doping testing

Conventional extraction and microextraction techniques have been extensively implemented as sample preparation methods for bioanalysis. Both types of techniques are affected by their own advantages and drawbacks. Conventional extractions usually afford better extraction efficiency as they are exhaustive in nature. Conversely, equilibrium-based microextraction techniques aim at either minimizing or completely circumventing the use of solvents, also reducing the time and cost of analysis. Furthermore, additional microextraction features such as the varied dimensions of extracting devices, miniaturization, high-throughput operation, and automated coupling with analytical instruments have enabled the development of exemplar analytical tools for bioanalysis applications. This review offers a brief discussion concerning achievements, limitations, and future directions of solid phase microextraction (SPME) with respect to determinations of drugs of abuse and anti-doping applications. In addition, commercially available devices, automation, and several geometric configurations of SPME compatible with various mass spectrometry interfaces are described in several examples. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.