Is propofol not a general anaesthetic? That's what I was given for my colonoscopy. Totally knocked out, and when I opened my eyes again it was all over.
Side note: I was never warned about a particular effect of propofol. They started pumping it in and told me to count down from 10. At about 5, I suddenly felt this horrible searing, burning pain in my IV-connected arm that I felt spreading throughout my body. Thinking something was terribly wrong, I opened my mouth to say I'm feeling awful pain, but by then I was already falling unconscious. So I only consciously felt the pain for a few seconds, feeling totally fine (besides grogginess) when I woke up, but it was panic-inducing and some of the worst pain I've felt.
Apparently it's pretty common for propofol. I think they might have told me I might feel a little discomfort, but they didn't mention the possibility of sudden, dramatic pain, for some reason. I could've grit my teeth through those seconds if I knew it was possibly going to happen, but I feared that I was having an unexpected severe allergic reaction or something, so I spent those few seconds absolutely terrified.
Propofol is definitely used as one of probably a cocktail of drugs required for various levels of sedation (AKA “general anesthesia” in this case).
I’ve experienced the exact same pain you’re talking about but with IV antibiotics. No nurse or doctor could actually explain why it was happening to me, other than to say the IV had “gone bad.” Because I was in the hospital for so long, they eventually switched me to a PICC line. Absolutely zero pain with that.
My own experiences with propofol involved either the PICC line, or maybe some kind of arterial line or something (I was unconscious when I was first sedated during this incident).
Probably local phlebitis. Propofol is a milky emulsion and is very lipid soluble (that's what makes it a good, blood-brain-barrier crossing agent!) but occasionally does cause side effects [1] --- I understand, particularly if it gets outside of the vessel at all.
There can be a number of things covered by the phrase "gone bad", ranging from phlebitis (inflammation of the vein) to infiltration (where the catheter becomes dislodged from the vein (or pokes through it)) and the IV fluid leaks into the surrounding tissue.
Side note: I was never warned about a particular effect of propofol. They started pumping it in and told me to count down from 10. At about 5, I suddenly felt this horrible searing, burning pain in my IV-connected arm that I felt spreading throughout my body. Thinking something was terribly wrong, I opened my mouth to say I'm feeling awful pain, but by then I was already falling unconscious. So I only consciously felt the pain for a few seconds, feeling totally fine (besides grogginess) when I woke up, but it was panic-inducing and some of the worst pain I've felt.
Apparently it's pretty common for propofol. I think they might have told me I might feel a little discomfort, but they didn't mention the possibility of sudden, dramatic pain, for some reason. I could've grit my teeth through those seconds if I knew it was possibly going to happen, but I feared that I was having an unexpected severe allergic reaction or something, so I spent those few seconds absolutely terrified.