Anesthesiologist Addicted to Propofol

Death after excessive propofol abuse

“…A similar pattern of excessive abuse was evident in the case of an anaesthesiologist who first abused and then was addicted to propofol for about a year. He did not increase the amount per injection (always 100mg) but the frequency (up to 15 times per day) [6]. A different pattern of abuse was found in a sober alcoholic who abused propofol 3 times a day with doses of 50mg for nine days [7].…”

“…There are only two publications describing propofol abuse. In both cases propofol was used for its sedative and relaxing property [6,7]. Other possible motives for propofol abuse are sexual illusions and disinhibitions during awakening from the narcotic-induced sleep [8].…”

A Case Report of the First Propofol Addiction in Turkey

“…These properties may be the major factor for the increase in the number of addiction cases. The first propofol addiction case report documented a patient who preferred propofol to midazolam and fentanyl because of its advantages, as described above (11). In addition to the above-mentioned advantages, this patient started using propofol for stress relief, which was eventually followed by craving (11).…”

“…Since 1992, propofol has been discussed with regard to its abuse potential after the first propofol addiction case report (11). Propofol has several desirable properties superior to those of other sedatives such as easy access, rapid onset of action, short duration of action and minimal or no residual side-effects (12).…”

“…Therefore, authors thought that these patients are not under the risk of propofol addiction. A majority of propofol abusers use the drug for non-anaesthetic purposes such as stress relief, insomnia relief, pain relief and euphoria (3,9,11,13). Headache treatments, gastrointestinal endoscopic procedures or nephrolithiasis pain relief such as the case of our patient are some methods to meet and experience propofol effects.…”