So why don't you tell us what your understanding of propofol is.
I would be excited to learn more if there is something that is important to my patients. Here is what I know off the top of my head.
My current understanding is that propofol is a centrally acting anesthetic without any analgesic effect and may need some opiate adjunctive medication.
For proper use, it should be administered by the physician in the setting of continuous cardiopulmonary monitoring including end tidal CO2 monitoring, advanced airway equipment at bedside (fiberoptics, bougie, LMA, etc). The person managing anesthesia should be distinct from the proceduralist (as with all procedural sedation).
It has a very short (~minute) half life, and is best with a bolus start and subsequent drip or repeat small boluses to maintain necessary level of anesthesia. If used for a noxious procedure such as orthopedic reduction, after completion of the noxious stimuli, sedation may suddenly be far deeper than previously achieved with the same dosages. The doses are weight based and differ for procedural sedation, rapid sequence intubation, and for general anesthesia.
Propofol is lipid soluble and can linger in the tissues of those with large amounts of adipose. It can cause lactic acidosis as well I believe.
The major side effects of proposal include hypotension (secondary to peripheral vasodilation), loss of respiratory drive and protective airway reflexes with higher doses. Regarding the side effects, hypotension has some correlation with the rate of infusion, and can be countered by small amounts of phenylephrine if necessary.
Lastly, propofol also has some antiepileptic qualities and can be an excellent adjunct to subclinical status patient.
I apologize, I am sure my understanding seems juvenile to anesthesiologists, just as my understanding of orthopedics is no where near an orthopedists etc. I want to learn more if there are key aspects that I should know.
Thank you,
TL
PS: I use the word "anesthesia," because even what I call procedural sedation is simply a level on the spectrum of anesthesia.