[Evaluation of target-controlled infusion for propofol in patients with chronic renal failure undergoing living-related renal transplantation].

Background: As we have no information whether target-controlled infusion (TCI) for propofol, using pharmacokinetic parameters obtained without chronic renal failure, is available to estimate the drug concentration, we examined the blood concentration of propofol on the patients with chronic renal failure to evaluate the reliability of TCI of propofol.
Methods: Ten patients with chronic renal failure undergoing hemodialysis, from 20 to 60 years of age, were scheduled for living-related renal transplantation. Propofol was administrated with our TCI system at the target blood concentration of 4 microg x ml(-1) for three hours. Blood samples were obtained at 30, 60, 90, 120, and 180 minutes after starting propofol delivery, and at the emergence from anesthesia to measure propofol concentration.
Results: There was no tendency of increasing the drug concentration in proportion to the time of propofol infusion. As for the concentration at emergence, mean estimated concentration of propofol was 1.6 mg x ml(-1), showing a good correlation between measured and estimated concentrations.
Conclusion: TCI system for propofol provided a good estimation of the blood concentration of propofol in patients with chronic renal failure undergoing living-related renal transplantation.