Etomidate: uses, dosing, side effects & brands
Etomidate is a general anesthetic sold in the U.S. under one brand, for brain ischemia, pain and status epilepticus. Below: what the FDA label says, every product that contains it, what the pills look like, and its recall record.
Key facts
- Drug class
- General Anesthetic
- Treats (across its forms)
- Brain Ischemia, Pain and Status Epilepticus
- Available as
- Injectable · Solution
- Sold as
- Etomidate
- Prescription?
- Prescription only
- Generic available?
- Yes
How etomidate is dosed
From the FDA label for Etomidate (application ANDA078289). Other etomidate products — different forms, different strengths — are dosed differently. Follow the label for the one you were prescribed.
Do not administer unless solution is clear and container is undamaged. Discard unused portion (see DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION ). Etomidate Injection is intended for administration only by the intravenous route (see CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY ). The dose for induction of anesthesia in adult patients and in pediatric patients above the age of ten (10) years will vary between 0.2 mg/kg and 0.6 mg/kg of body weight, and it must be individualized in each case. The usual dose for induction in these patients is 0.3 mg/kg, injected over a period of 30 to 60 seconds. There are inadequate data to make dosage recommendations for induction of anesthesia in patients below the age of ten (10) years; therefore, such use is not recommended. Geriatric patients may require reduced doses of etomidate. Smaller increments of intravenous etomidate may be administered to adult patients during short operative procedures to supplement subpotent anesthetic agents, such as nitrous oxide. The dosage employed under these circumstances, although usually smaller than the original induction dose, must be individualized. There are insufficient data to support this use of etomidate for longer adult procedures or for any procedures in pediatric patients; therefore, such use is not recommended. The use of intravenous fentanyl and other neuroactive drugs employed during the conduct of anesthesia may alter the etomidate…
Etomidate side effects
The most frequent adverse reactions associated with use of intravenous etomidate are transient venous pain on injection and transient skeletal muscle movements, including myoclonus: 1. Transient venous pain was observed immediately following intravenous injection of etomidate in about 20% of the patients, with considerable difference in the reported incidence (1.2% to 42%). This pain is usually described as mild to moderate in severity but it is occasionally judged disturbing. The observation of venous pain is not associated with a more than usual incidence of thrombosis or thrombophlebitis at the injection site. Pain also appears to be less frequently noted when larger, more proximal arm veins are employed and it appears to be more frequently noted when smaller, more distal, hand or wrist veins are employed. 2. Transient skeletal muscle movements were noted following use of intravenous etomidate in about 32% of the patients, with considerable difference in the reported incidence (22.7% to 63%). Most of these observations were judged mild to moderate in severity but some were judged disturbing. The incidence of disturbing movements was less when 0.1 mg of fentanyl was given immediately before induction. These movements have been classified as myoclonic in the majority of cases (74%), but averting movements (7%), tonic movements (10%), and eye movements (9%) have also been…
Who shouldn’t take etomidate
Etomidate is contraindicated in patients who have shown hypersensitivity to it.
Every etomidate product we track (1)
Same active ingredient — different manufacturer, form, price and FDA recall record. That last one is what our independent score measures.
Only one: Etomidate.
How long etomidate keeps
No etomidate label we read sets a separate limit for after opening, but they do specify how it must be stored — and the stability behind any date assumes those conditions.
Does etomidate expire? The in-use limits and storage rules from its labelsEtomidate and breastfeeding
From LactMed, the US National Library of Medicine’s Drugs and Lactation Database — quoted, not rewritten.
Full LactMed record for etomidate: levels in milk, effects in breastfed infants, and the drugs it would consider insteadAmounts of etomidate in milk are very small and decrease rapidly. Existing data indicate that no waiting period is required before resuming breastfeeding after etomidate anesthesia. Breastfeeding can be resumed as soon as the mother has recovered sufficiently from general anesthesia to nurse. When a combination of anesthetic agents is used for a procedure, follow the recommendations for the most problematic medication used during the procedure. Monitor the infant for sedation and poor feeding.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, record revised March 15, 2025. LactMed states its information is not a substitute for professional judgement.
What people report to the FDA about etomidate
The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) collects reports from patients and clinicians. It holds 2,239 reports naming etomidate, and the FDA flagged 92% of those reports as serious. The effects reported most often — leaving out reports about overdose, misuse or the condition being treated, which dominate the raw list for common medicines:
- renal failure219 reports
- injury166 reports
- hypotension165 reports
- anxiety161 reports
- fear135 reports
- emotional distress126 reports
- renal injury118 reports
- renal impairment117 reports
Read these as a signal, not a rate. A report does not mean etomidate caused the effect — anyone can file one, and many describe people taking several medicines for several conditions. Crucially there is no denominator: FAERS does not record how many people took the drug, so these counts cannot be turned into “X% of patients” — a bigger number often just means a more widely used or more talked-about drug. Duplicates exist, and publicity drives reporting. For what is actually established, read the FDA label section above.
Source: openFDA drug/event (FAERS), retrieved July 25, 2026.
Related calculators
Frequently asked questions
What is etomidate?
Etomidate is a general anesthetic used to treat Brain Ischemia, Pain, Status Epilepticus, Closed Head Injuries.
What kind of drug is etomidate?
The FDA classifies etomidate as a general anesthetic. General anesthetics produce reversible unconsciousness by altering the brain's chemical signaling: they boost the activity of calming GABA receptors while dampening excitatory NMDA receptors. This tips the brain into a deeply sedated state that prevents awareness, memory, and pain during surgery. If you are checking whether it is safe to combine with something else, the class is what matters — two drugs from the same class usually should not be stacked.
Can you take etomidate with other medicines?
It depends on the medicine. We check it against the FDA labels rather than guessing: our interaction checker searches each drug's own label for the other and quotes what it says, naming the section it came from. Run etomidate against whatever else you take — and remember that a label not naming a drug is not the same as that combination being safe.
What forms does etomidate come in?
Across the brands we track, etomidate is currently marketed as injectable and solution, per the FDA's National Drug Code Directory. Each form is dosed differently — follow the label for the exact product you were prescribed.
Is there a generic etomidate?
Yes. Our catalog lists 1 generic etomidate product alongside the brand versions. A generic has the same active ingredient and must meet the FDA's bioequivalence standard; it usually costs less. Ask your pharmacist which one your plan covers.
Cite this page
- APA
- pharmaranks. (2026, July 24). Etomidate: uses, dosing, side effects & brands. https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/etomidate
- MLA
- “Etomidate: uses, dosing, side effects & brands.” pharmaranks, 24 July 2026, https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/etomidate.
We summarise public FDA and NIH sources — for a clinical claim, cite the primary source we link to as well.
Sources: FDA openFDA drug label, National Drug Code Directory, and Enforcement (recall) database. This page reproduces public FDA data and is not medical advice. Dosing is set by your prescriber.
Read the full FDA label for etomidate on DailyMed (NIH) ↗.