Rare Side Effects of Propofol Administration—Case Report and a Brief Literature Review

Introduction: Propofol is an intravenous general anesthetic and sedation drug for use in the induction and maintenance of anesthesia or sedation. It is included in WHO Model List of Essential medicines and approved by the FDA (food and drug administration) in 1989. The side effects of Propofol have been studied widely in the last 25 years. They can be easily managed and that is why Propofol has become a first choice drug for the most of the anesthesiologists worldwide. This paper presents a case report of Propofol induced pulmonary edema and also a review of some of the rarest and unusual manifestations of Propofol side effects. Some of them are urine discoloration, tissue necrosis, rhabdomyolysis and postoperative pancreatitis. Methods and materials: A case summary of 18-years old woman with unusual postoperative pulmonary reaction was considered along with other documented cases. Several full-text articles were briefly analyzed for estimating the role of Propofol for a number of strange and potentially life threatening conditions. Results: Despite the low incidence rate, the presented case could be determined as a pulmonary edema due to its clinical features. Furthermore, rare drug reactions such as rhabdomyolysis, tissue necrosis, postoperative pancreatitis etc. may remain unrecognized and create diagnostic and therapeutic issues. Conclusions: Although the officially reported dangerous reaction, Propofol remains one of the best hypnotic and sedative agents. The better knowledge of the full list of drug reactions considered as rare and very rare is a guarantee of an adequate and a better therapeutic behavior.