Korean J Anesthesiol.  2013 Nov;65(5):403-409. 10.4097/kjae.2013.65.5.403.

Abuse potential of propofol used for sedation in gastric endoscopy and its correlation with subject characteristics

• Kim JH
• Byun H
• Kim JH

• KMID: 2299411
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4097/kjae.2013.65.5.403

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Propofol has been widely used for an induction and/or maintenance of general anesthesia, or for sedation for various procedures. Although it has many ideal aspects, there have been several cases of drug abuse and addiction. The authors investigated whether there are abuse liable groups among the general population.
METHODS
We surveyed 169 patients after gastric endoscopic examination, which used propofol as a sedative, with the Addiction Research Center Inventory (ARCI) questionnaire. Other characteristics of the patients, such as past history, smoking habits, depression, anxiety, alcohol abuse liability and sleep disturbance, were recorded by history taking and several questionnaires before the exam.
RESULTS
Propofol had a high Morphine-Benzedrine Group (MBG) score (representative value for euphoria) of 6.3, which is higher than marijuana, and a Pentobarbital-Chlorpromazine-Alcohol Group (PCAG) score (representative value of sedation) of 8.1, which is lower than most opioids. The MBG score showed no statistically significant correlation between any of the characteristics of the groups. In females, the PCAG score showed a correlation with age, and in males, it showed a correlation with a sleeping problem.
CONCLUSIONS
Propofol had relatively high euphoria and low residual sedative effects. It had a more potent sedative effect in the female group who were young, and in the male group who had a low sleep quality index. There were differences in the abuse liability from a single exposure to propofol in the general population. Further study is needed to evaluate the abuse liability of repeated exposure.

Keyword

Addictive behavior; Dependency; Hypnotics and sedatives; Intravenous substance abuse; Propofol

MeSH Terms

Alcoholism
Analgesics, Opioid
Anesthesia, General
Anxiety
Behavior, Addictive
Cannabis
Depression
Endoscopy*
Euphoria
Female
Humans
Hypnotics and Sedatives
Male
Propofol*
Surveys and Questionnaires
Smoke
Smoking
Substance Abuse, Intravenous
Substance-Related Disorders
Analgesics, Opioid
Hypnotics and Sedatives
Propofol
Smoke