Premedicate (Premedication)

The term premedicate has come to mean something very specific in the practice of medicine. Namely, it refers to the administration of medication prior to a procedure or test. This is interesting, because if the word were analyzed by its components the reader might get confused. Pre- means “before,” and medicate means “to administer medicine.” If anything, the term should be pre-procedure medication. Nevertheless, the word premedicate has its place and is universally understood in modern medicine.

For the variety of procedures performed, from a colonoscopy to open heart surgery, premedication has its purpose. First and foremost, the goal of premedication is anxiolysis (reduce anxiety). This state can be achieved by a number of medications and administered through a number of routes. The most commonly used drugs are benzodiazepines, which are used to treat anxiety. However, medications that contain narcotics or antihistamines can be used for premedication because of their calming effect on patients. There are several options for the route of administration. The intravenous route is preferred because of the reliability of medication uptake. Other routes such as intramuscular (into the muscle) or subcutaneous (under the skin) can be used. These routes are not as reliable in uptake because factors such as soft tissue and fat affect medication absorption. Other administration routes are oral and rectal. The oral route is especially advantageous when administering medication to children as they are more amenable to drinking a liquid than having a needlestick injection. The second purpose of premedication is analgesia (relief of pain) prior to the offending procedure. The analgesic is given to treat a future painful stimulus. Thus, premedication can consist of more than one medication.