from Wikipedia:
Midazolam, sold under the brand name Versed among others, is a benzodiazepine medication used for anesthesia, premedication before surgical anesthesia, and procedural sedation, and to treat severe agitation.[12] It induces sleepiness, decreases anxiety, and causes anterograde amnesia.[12]
The drug does not cause an individual to become unconscious, merely to be sedated.[12] It is also useful for the treatment of prolonged (lasting over five minutes) seizures.[14] Midazolam can be given by mouth, intravenously, by injection into a muscle, by spraying into the nose, or through the cheek.[12][14] When given intravenously, it typically begins working within five minutes; when injected into a muscle, it can take fifteen minutes to begin working;[12] when taken orally, it can take 10–20 minutes to begin working.[15]
Side effects can include a decrease in efforts to breathe, low blood pressure, and sleepiness.[12] Tolerance to its effects and withdrawal syndrome may occur following long-term use.[16] Paradoxical effects, such as increased activity, can occur especially in children and older people.[16] There is evidence of risk when used during pregnancy but no evidence of harm with a single dose during breastfeeding.[17][18]
Midazolam was patented in 1974 and came into medical use in 1982.[19] It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines.[20] Midazolam is available as a generic medication.[17] In many countries, it is a controlled substance.[12]
End of life care
In the final stages of end-of-life care, midazolam is routinely used at low doses via subcutaneous injection to help with agitation, restlessness or anxiety in the last hours or days of life.[36] At higher doses during the last weeks of life, midazolam is considered a first line agent in palliative continuous deep sedation therapy when it is necessary to alleviate intolerable suffering not responsive to other treatments,[37] but the need for this is rare.[38]
