Understanding Propofol Pharmacokinetics for Effective Anesthesia Practice

Happy New Year! I'm joined today with a very special guest and current primary exam examiner Dr Anthony. In this episode we take a in depth look at the Pharmacokinetics of Propofol TCI. Anthony has curated this talk over multiple years and starts of by explaining the main equations you should know (05:35). We then integrate these equations into the classic Propofol Cp vs Time graph (11:52). This leads us on to talking about the compartment model (20:11) and how this applies to the 'Marsh' TCI model (23:25). To help understand the concepts of rate constants (k) Anthony uses his bucket analogy (27:27). Then we apply this knowledge to understand effect site targeting (Ce) and run through some examples of differences in age (41:30) and weight (66:05). Finally, we finish with a brief look at the 'Eleveld' Model and the concept of Keo (72:40). A huge thank you to Anthony and as always if you have any feedback let me know.

Sources/Credit:

All equations/graphs/diagrams/tables – Miller's Anesthesia 10th Edition 2025

All TCI calculations – simtiva.app

End Episode Song – "The Volatiles"