It may also be potentiated by opioid analgesics.Propofol can also cause decreased systemic vascular resistance, myocardial blood flow, and oxygen consumption, possibly through direct vasodilation. There are also reports that it may cause green discolouration of the urine.Although propofol is heavily used in the adult ICU setting, the side effects associated with propofol seem to be of greater concern in children. In the 1990s, multiple reported deaths of children in ICUs associated with propofol sedation prompted the FDA to issue a warning.As a respiratory depressant, propofol frequently produces apnea. The persistence of apnea can depend on factors such as premedication, dose administered, and rate of administration, and may sometimes persist for longer than 60 seconds. Possibly as the result of depression of the central inspiratory drive, propofol may produce significant decreases in respiratory rate, minute volume, tidal volume, mean inspiratory flow rate, and functional residual capacity.Diminishing cerebral blood flow, cerebral metabolic oxygen consumption, and intracranial pressure are also characteristics of propofol administration. In addition, propofol may decrease intraocular pressure by as much as 50% in patients with normal intraocular pressure.A more serious but rare side effect is dystonia. Mild myoclonic movements are common, as with other intravenous hypnotic agents. Propofol appears to be safe for use in porphyria, and has not been known to trigger malignant hyperpyrexia.Propofol is also reported to induce priapism in some individuals, and has been observed to suppress REM sleep stage and to worsen the poor sleep quality in some patients.Rare side effects include:
Anxiety. changes in vision. cloudy urine. coughing up blood.
The currently available preparation is 1% propofol, 10% soybean oil, and 1.2% purified egg phospholipid as an emulsifier, with 2.25%  glycerol as a tonicity-adjusting agent, and sodium hydroxide to adjust the pH. Diprivan contains EDTA, a common chelation agent, that also acts alone (bacteriostatically against some bacteria) and synergistically with some other antimicrobial agents. Newer generic formulations contain sodium metabisulfite or benzyl alcohol as antimicrobial agents. Propofol emulsion is a highly opaque white fluid due to the scattering of light from the tiny (about 150-nm) oil droplets it contains: Tyndall Effect. Developments
A water-soluble prodrug form, fospropofol, has been developed and tested with positive results. Fospropofol is rapidly broken down by the enzyme alkaline phosphatase to form propofol. Marketed as Lusedra, this formulation may not produce the pain at injection site that often occurs with the conventional form of the drug. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the product in 2008. However fospropofol is a Schedule IV controlled substance with the DEA ACSCN of 2138 in the United States unlike propofol.By incorporation of an azobenzene unit, a photoswitchable version of propofol (AP2) was developed in 2012, that allows for optical control of GABAA receptors with light. In 2013, a propofol binding site on mammalian GABAA receptors has been identified by photolabeling using a diazirine derivative. Additionally, it was shown that the hyaluronan polymer present in the synovia can be protected from free-radical depolymerization by propofol. References
External links

"Propofol". Drug Information Portal. U.S. National Library of Medicine.