A review on Oil-Free Injectable Propofol formulations and their Stability

Abstract

Introduction: Propofol is a potent lipophilic anesthetic drug that was initially formulated in Cremophor El for human use. Because of the occurrence of Cremophor EL anaphylaxis and concurrent improvements in the quality of lipid emulsions, it was ultimately brought to market as 1% propofol formulated in 10% soybean oil emulsion. Despite the success of propofol emulsions, drawbacks to such formulations mainly include inherent emulsion instability, injection pain, a need for antimicrobial agents to prevent sepsis, and a concern of hyperlipidemia-related side effects, etc. Efforts to overcome such disadvantages have involved the development of propofol emulsions with reformed propofol and lipid contents, the addition of different excipients to emulsions, etc. Aim: The aim of this narrative review was to evaluate different propofol injectable formulations, in the currently available formulations with those of the novel formulations with different carriers, whose result could help to improve propofol formulations with maximum stability and minimal side effects. Materials and Methods: Search for relevant articles chapters was performed using PubMed and Scopus databases. 120 recent articles relating to human subjects were evaluated for relevancy. A full-text copy was obtained for all relevant publications (91 articles). Finally, selected articles were thoroughly evaluated to update the refresh readers’ knowledge of the novel propofol oil-free formulations with maximum stability and minimal side effects. Results: One of the most important benefits of oil-free formulations was the high physical stability with a longer shelf life and less side effects. Conclusion: It can be concluded that microemulsions prepared from propofol have many advantages over older formulations that were lipid emulsions.