Premium
The subjective effects of low‐dose propofol A double‐blind study to evaluate dimensions of sedation and consciousness with low‐dose propofol
Author(s) -
WHITEHEAD C.,
SANDERS L. D.,
OLDROYD G.,
HAYNES T. K.,
MARSHALL R. W.,
ROSEN M.,
ROBINSON J. O.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
anaesthesia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.839
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1365-2044
pISSN - 0003-2409
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2044.1994.tb03518.x
Subject(s) - propofol , sedation , medicine , anesthesia , euphoriant , microgram , mood , plasma concentration , psychiatry , biochemistry , chemistry , in vitro
Summary In this study the subjective effects (sedation and mood) of subanaesthetic doses of propofol were examined in 28 healthy male volunteers. A computer model was used to predict the infusion profiles necessary to obtain steady state propofol plasma concentrations of0.3μg.ml ‐1 , 0.6 μg.ml ‐1 , 0.9 μg.ml ‐1 . Objective measures of sedation from saccadic eye movement and choice reaction time gave significant dose responses at each level but a battery of psychometric tests failed to show dose‐related subjective responses. Of particular note in the subjective data is the lack of a difference between groups or even of a consistent trend within the data. This suggests that a low concentration of propofol in plasma does not induce euphoria or a sense of well‐being. The anecdotal evidence available for mood changes with propofol therefore remains unsubstantiated.