Expert: Ronald Levy, M.D. - 7/29/2009

Question
Hello,
I will be having an upper GI endoscopy and found out they will be using Propofol for inducing general anesthesia during my endoscopy.  I have heard of people suffering memory loss side effects due to having been in general anesthesia.  Is this true?  Will general anesthesia lead to memory loss?  Is specifically Propofol safe in terms of memory side effects?

Thank you for your time.
Kevin


Answer
Propofol causes antegrade (forward) amnesia. There is no memory loss of past events. Generally people may not remember from the time they go to the procedure  until the procedure is over (and up to 12-24 hours later), but that is it. There are no long term memory side effects. This is a known effect of the drug. I say effect and not side effect because it is usually a desired effect. Most people don't want to remember their procedure.

Ronald Levy, MD
Professor of Anesthesiology
UTMB-Galveston