Inflammatory Reactions after Subdermal Injection of Thiopental and Propofol in Rabbits.

Oh,  Je Hwan; Na,  Byoung Su; Lee,  Bo Ryoung; Park,  Jung Won; Jung,  Yong Hun; Baek,  Chong Wha; Oh,  Su Won; Woo,  Young Cheol; Kim,  Jin Yun; Park,  Sun Gyoo; Koo,  Gill Hoi

doi:2002.43.4.485

Experimental Research Article

Korean Journal of Anesthesiology 2002;43(4):485-493.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4097/kjae.2002.43.4.485

Inflammatory Reactions after Subdermal Injection of Thiopental and Propofol in Rabbits.

Je Hwan Oh, Byoung Su Na, Bo Ryoung Lee, Jung Won Park, Yong Hun Jung, Chong Wha Baek, Su Won Oh, Young Cheol Woo, Jin Yun Kim, Sun Gyoo Park, Gill Hoi Koo

¹Department of Anesthesiology, College of Medicine, Chung Ang University, Seoul, Korea. Koogillhoi@hanafos.com
²Department of Anesthesiology, Nowon Eulji Hospital, Seoul, Korea.

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Thiopental and propofol are the most widely used intravenous anesthetics as induction agents in general anesthesia. Thiopental is a very strong alkaline drug, and when it is extravasated, it can cause pain and skin necrosis. Propofol also can cause pain on injection in many populations. Therefore, we planed this study to compare inflammatory reactions of skin tissues after subdermal injections of thiopental and propofol in rabbits.
METHODS
Four rabbits were divided into 2 groups: Standard dose (S) group and double dose (D) group. In the S group, thiopental 0.4 ml and propofol 0.4 ml were injected subcutaneously on each side of the posterior proximal ear. In the D group, the dose was doubled to 0.8 ml of each drug and injection was done in the same manner. Skin tissue at the injection sites were excised after 1 day, 3 days, and 7 days. Then each skin tissue slide was examined under an optical microsccpe.
RESULTS
In the S group, the inflammatory reaction after the subdermal injection of 2.5% thiopental revealed a more progressed and more severe pattern than 1% propofol. In the D group, the inflammatory reaction after a subdermal injection of 2.5% thiopental revealed a more progressed and more severe pattern than 1% propofol at 3 days, but there was no significant difference in the degree of progression and severity between the 2 drugs at 7 days.
CONCLUSIONS
When propofol is extravasated during continuous infusion for maintenance of anesthesia, it can cause distinct inflammatory reaction; though the inflammatory reaction is milder and the possibility of complications is lower than with thiopental.

Key Words: Inflammation; propofol; thiopental