• Bryan R Harvey and Steven Ganzberg.
• Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Seton Hall University, St Joseph's Regional Medical Center, Paterson, NJ 07503, USA. harv04@yahoo.com
• J. Oral Maxillofac. Surg. 2003 Jul 1; 61 (7): 818-23.

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the growth of 4 different microorganisms in propofol, methohexital, and 1:1 and 1:3 mixtures of propofol and methohexital.Materials And MethodsThe microbial growth of Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida albicans, and Escherichia coli in 1:1 and 3:1 mixtures of methohexital and 2 types of propofol was measured for 48 hours after mixing the solutions. Two of the 4 test solutions were composed of 1% methohexital combined with Diprivan (AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, Wilmington, DE), which uses EDTA as a microbial growth inhibitor. The growth of the same 4 microorganisms was also evaluated in 1:1 and 3:1 mixtures of 1% methohexital and a recently introduced generic propofol marketed by Baxter Pharmaceuticals (Deerfield, IL) that uses sodium metabisulfite as a preservative.ResultsCombining either Diprivan or generic propofol with methohexital in a 1:1 or 1:3 mixture ratio resulted in a solution that, like methohexital alone, significantly resisted the growth of C albicans, E coli, S aureus, and P aeruginosa for 48 hours.ConclusionThe results of our study suggest that 1:1 and 1:3 mixtures of propofol (either Diprivan or generic propofol) and methohexital behave similarly to methohexital alone by resisting growth of the microorganisms studied over the 48-hour time period. If, as has been reported elsewhere, the mixture of these 2 agents results in a solution with desirable anesthetic properties, its ability to resist microbial growth becomes clinically significant by extending the shelf-life of propofol in these mixtures.

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