Short anaesthesia with Propofol in cataract surgery

In ophthalmology, Propofol is often used for short anaesthesia, during which the eye, eyelids and optic nerves are anaesthetized. This offers the possibility to apply the local anesthetic around the eye – a very unpleasant place – without the patient noticing. During the surgery itself, the patient is awake, but thanks to the local anesthetic, he/she does not notice the surgery on his/her eye, since the conduction of the optic nerve is also eliminated.

Short anaesthesia with Propofol in children

In order to ensure an uncomplicated procedure in children, it may be necessary to put patients under short anaesthesia. Here, similar to the treatment of adults, Propofol has become the drug of choice. The main reason for this is the good controllability, rapid onset and withdrawal and good tolerability of the drug.

However, a separate dosage must be observed for children, as an adult dosage in children can lead to life-threatening conditions. Practitioners require special training in pediatric anesthesia and should have some experience before using Propofol in children. Propofol is used in children in pediatric dentistry, gastroenterology and ENT surgery.

Side effects of Propofol during short anaesthesia

Among the main side effects are the general damping effect on the human organism.This can lead to a strong weakening or even suppression of the respiratory stimulus. The risks of short anaesthesia with Propofol are overdosage. In the worst case, this could lead to respiratory arrest in a patient.

Furthermore, Propofol has a slowing effect on the heart rate and lowers the blood pressure of the anesthetized patients. In relatively rare cases, Propofol can even trigger seizures. One side effect that is guaranteed to occur, however, is an irritation of the blood vessels by Propofol.

Compared to other anaesthetics, Propofol does not have an analgesic effect, so it is often injected in combination with an analgesic. Since Propofol is excreted via the kidneys, the dosage should be adjusted to the kidney‘s performance in order not to risk overdosing. Of course, the exact opposite can also happen, with people excreting the anesthetic very quickly and the anesthesia is thus ended earlier than planned, as Propofol usually only has an effect time of about 5-10 minutes.