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For Immediate Release
May 5, 2004
AANA-ASA Joint Statement Regarding
Propofol Administration*
April 14, 2004
Because sedation is a continuum, it is not always possible to predict how an individual patient will respond. Due to the potential for rapid, profound changes in sedative/anesthetic depth and the lack of antagonistic medications, agents such as propofol require special attention.
Whenever propofol is used for sedation/anesthesia, it should be administered only by persons trained in the administration of general anesthesia, who are not simultaneously involved in these surgical or diagnostic procedures. This restriction is concordant with specific language in the propofol package insert, and failure to follow these recommendations could put patients at increased risk of significant injury or death.
Similar concerns apply when other intravenous induction agents are used for sedation, such as thiopental, methohexital or etomidate.
*This statement is not intended to apply when propofol is given to intubated, ventilated patients in a critical care setting.
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