Propofol detection for monitoring of intravenous anaesthesia: a review

Abstract

This paper presents a review of established and emerging methods for detecting and quantifying the intravenous anaesthetic propofol in solution. There is growing evidence of numerous advantages of total intravenous anaesthesia using propofol compared to conventional volatile-based anaesthesia, both in terms of patient outcomes and environmental impact. However, volatile-based anaesthesia still accounts for the vast majority of administered general anaesthetics, largely due to a lack of techniques for real-time monitoring of patient blood propofol concentration. Herein, propofol detection techniques that have been developed to date are reviewed alongside a discussion of remaining challenges.

Keywords: 2,6-Diisopropylphenol; Electrochemical detection; Optical detection; Propofol; Real-time monitoring.

Fig. 1

Gibbs reaction for propofol. Propofol reacts with DCQ to produce a coloured indophenol. Adapted from Mistry et al. [35]

Fig. 2

Representation of the binding of propofol molecules to a conductive molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) and the associated equivalent circuit diagram. Reprinted with permission [55] Copyright Elsevier 2016