Pharmacologic class (EPC) · 8 drug pages

General anesthetic: adverse event reports filed with FDA

31,985 reports list a drug in this class as a suspect or interacting product, 2004–2026.

Read first · FDA's statement on these data

Adverse event reports submitted to FDA do not undergo extensive validation or verification. Therefore, a causal relationship cannot be established between product and reactions listed in a report. While a suspected relationship may exist, it is not medically validated and should not be the sole source of information for clinical decision making or other assumptions about the safety or efficacy of a product. Additionally, it is important to remember that adverse event reports represent a small percentage of total usage numbers of a product. Common products may have a higher number of adverse events due to the higher total number of people using the product. openFDA, FDA

FDA adds: "There is no certainty that the reported event (adverse event or medication error) was actually due to the product. FDA does not require that a causal relationship between a product and event be proven, and reports do not always contain enough detail to properly evaluate an event." The information in these reports "cannot be used to estimate the incidence of these events."

Do not rely on openFDA to make decisions regarding medical care. While we make every effort to ensure that data is accurate, you should assume all results are unvalidated.

Not medical advice. This site counts what was reported to FDA. Questions about a medicine or device belong with a pharmacist or clinician.

31,985
reports across the class: 0.2% of all reports; 2,917
reports, 12 months to June 2026: 2,543 in the 12 months before; 94.2%
marked serious by the reporter: 57.4% across all reports; 8
drugs with a page: brand and generic names counted separately

General anesthetic is a pharmacologic class (an FDA Established Pharmacologic Class) with 8 drug pages on this site. Together those drugs are listed as a suspect or interacting product in 31,985 adverse event reports received by FDA, 0.2% of the database, from January 2004 to June 2026.

2,917 reports arrived in the 12 months to June 2026, up 15% from 2,543 in the 12 months before. FDA releases FAERS data quarterly, so the newest months are incomplete and grow in later releases. 94.2% of the class's reports are marked serious, 11.9% record death among the outcomes and 37.1% record hospitalisation, as reported.

Across the class the reactions recorded most often are hypotension (8.1%), drug ineffective (7.9%) and anaphylactic shock (6.3%). The class median share shown beside each term is the middle value across the member drugs; it is the comparison used on every drug page in this class.

The members table is ordered by report count for navigation only. FDA states that adverse event reports "represent a small percentage of total usage numbers of a product", that "common products may have a higher number of adverse events due to the higher total number of people using the product", and that the data "by themselves are not an indicator of the safety profile of the drug or biologic."

Drugs in the class

Drug	Name type	Reports	Latest 12 months	Marked serious	Top term recorded
Propofol	generic	19,118	1,463	95.1%	Hypotension
Sevoflurane	generic	5,472	818	96.8%	Anaesthetic complication neurological
DiprivanPropofol	brand	2,608	97	85%	Anaphylactic shock
Ketamine hydrochloride	generic	1,552	314	95.4%	Drug ineffective
Etomidate	generic	961	134	86.6%	Drug ineffective
Isoflurane	generic	882	56	94.1%	Hypotension
KetalarKetamine hydrochloride	brand	753	23	95.1%	Drug abuse
SupraneDesflurane	brand	639	12	93.1%	Bradycardia

Ordered by report count for navigation only. FDA states that adverse event reports "represent a small percentage of total usage numbers of a product", that "common products may have a higher number of adverse events due to the higher total number of people using the product", and that the data "by themselves are not an indicator of the safety profile of the drug or biologic."

Reports by month, five years

FDA releases FAERS data quarterly, so the newest months are incomplete and grow in later releases.

Reactions recorded across the class

share of class reports recording the termmedian drug in the class

Hypotensionlow blood pressure8.1%2,579
Drug ineffectivethe medicine did not work as expected7.9%2,541
Anaphylactic shocka severe allergic reaction with collapse6.3%2,018
Off label useused for a purpose or in a way not on the label5%1,612
Cardiac arrestthe heart stopped4.9%1,558
Drug interactionan interaction between medicines3.9%1,257
Anaphylactic reactiona severe, sudden allergic reaction3.8%1,215
Bradycardiaslow heart rate3.4%1,079
Tachycardiafast heart rate2.9%940
Rhabdomyolysismuscle breakdown2.6%827
Hyperthermia malignant2.3%735
Anaesthetic complication neurological2.3%734
Propofol infusion syndrome2.2%710
Bronchospasmtightening of the airways2.2%708
Oxygen saturation decreased2.2%696
Foetal exposure during pregnancythe unborn baby was exposed to the medicine2.1%667
Toxicity to various agentspoisoning or toxic effect of one or more substances2%647
Nauseafeeling sick2%625
Product use in unapproved indicationused for a purpose not on the label1.9%617
Pyrexiafever1.9%614
Metabolic acidosistoo much acid in the body fluids1.8%576
Rashskin rash1.7%536
Drug abusemisuse of a medicine1.6%526
Acute kidney injurysudden loss of kidney function1.6%523
Vomitingbeing sick1.6%513

Solid bar: share of all class reports. Hollow bar: the median share across the 8 member drugs, the reference used on each member's page. One report can record several terms.

Outcomes, patients and reporters

Outcomes recorded

Death11.9%3,822

Life-threatening23.3%7,456

Hospitalisation (initial or prolonged)37.1%11,859

Disability1.8%569

Congenital anomaly0.6%186

Other serious59.6%19,079

Not serious5.8%1,841

Patient age

Under 22.1%666

2 to 114.5%1,434

12 to 173.8%1,200

18 to 4425.2%8,073

45 to 6423.3%7,452

65 to 7410.2%3,274

75 and over6.6%2,096

Age not given24.4%7,790

Who reported

Physician36.2%11,586

Pharmacist8%2,567

Other health professional44.5%14,238

Lawyer0.2%79

Consumer or non-health professional6.3%2,003

Not given4.7%1,512

Grey bar: all 20,646,523 reports in the database. Outcome flags are as the reporter set them and are not verified by FDA.

Questions about General anesthetic reports

Which drugs are in the General anesthetic class on this site?

Propofol, Sevoflurane, Diprivan, Ketamine hydrochloride, Etomidate and Isoflurane and 2 more. Class membership comes from the pharmacologic class (EPC) on the drug's FDA label.

How many reports does the class have?

31,985 reports through June 2026, 2,917 of them in the latest 12 months. A report listing two drugs of the class counts once for each.

What reactions are recorded most often?

hypotension (8.1%), drug ineffective (7.9%), anaphylactic shock (6.3%), off label use (5%) and cardiac arrest (4.9%).

Can the members table be used to rank the drugs?

No. FDA states that adverse event reports "represent a small percentage of total usage numbers of a product", that "common products may have a higher number of adverse events due to the higher total number of people using the product", and that the data "by themselves are not an indicator of the safety profile of the drug or biologic." Drugs differ in how many people take them, in the conditions they treat, in time on the market and in how diligently reports are collected.

How do I report an adverse event?

Through FDA MedWatch (Form FDA 3500, or 1-800-FDA-1088) or to the manufacturer. See the guide on how to report.

Where this comes from. Counts are built from the openFDA Drug Adverse Event (FAERS) bulk export released 28 Sep 2026, which holds reports FDA received through 30 Jun 2026. Drug names are as reported, resolved to the brand or generic name on the FDA label where openFDA's harmonisation matched them; classes are the pharmacologic class (EPC) from the label and the National Drug Code Directory of 17 Sep 2026. A class is the Established Pharmacologic Class most often attached to a drug's reports by openFDA's label harmonisation, or from the NDC Directory where reports carry none. No report narrative, lot number, patient detail or reporter identity is published. See the methodology and sources; FDA's record is authoritative, and corrections are handled within five working days.

Drug data (FAERS) through 30 Jun 2026; device data (MAUDE) through 31 Aug 2026. Not medical advice.