Monitoring of Propofol Boli in Breathing Gas using Ion Molecule Reaction Mass Spectrometry

The intravenous anaesthetic propofol (2, 6-diisopropylphenol) is a widely used hypnotic. As it has some volatility, it can be detected in expired breath of subjects receiving propofol infusion. In this preclinical study we continuously monitored exhaled propofol using ion molecule reaction mass spectrometry (IMR-MS) after administering propofol boli along with continuous infusion. The correlation between blood plasma propofol concentrations and exhaled propofol concentrations was characterized.