Diprivan® Injectable Emulsion

Parenteral emulsions were first introduced to provide an IV source of essential fatty acids and calories. This has developed into the extensive and routine use of products such as Intraplipid, Lipofundin and Liposyn in total parenteral nutrition. There are relatively few commercially available emulsions containing active compounds the only example on the U.S. market is Diprivan Injectable Emulsion, the formulation of which is shown in Table 9.4. Diazepam is also available as an injectable emulsion on the UK market (Diazemuls ). For a more detailed discussion of the issues involved in developing parenteral emulsions, the reader is referred to Collins-Gold et al. (1990). 

This dmg, also known as Diprivan, is chemically unlike any of the previously described iv agents and was developed following the discovery of the anesthetic activity of the 2,6-diethyl analogue (111). Propofol itself is insoluble in water and is usually formulated in a soya bean oil emulsion. Propofol induction, with or without an opioid, is smooth and similar to that of other agents, although pain at the injection site and apnea have been reported (112,113). Recovery after induction and maintenance is faster, with fewer side effects, than with thiopentone (114), although sexual disinhibition has been anecdotally reported (115). Propofol is rapidly distributed, metabolized, and eliininated (116). 

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