In March 2020, the UHealth Pharmacy Services estimated how much propofol would be needed for the first 180 days of the pandemic. This is what the calculations looked like:
75kg patient * 1mg/kg per hour * 24 hours/day *175 patients * 180 days = 56,700,000 mg of prop needed
…at 10mg/ml, that is 113,400 50ml vials of propofol!
The numbers were sobering.
In order to divert propofol to the ICUs to be used to sedate intubated COVID patients, providers (especially anesthesiology providers) all over the hospital made a commitment to almost completely eliminate propofol use while caring for patients. It worked! We never ran out of propofol.
