atropine vs midazolam
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Side-by-side comparison of atropine and midazolam. Data from FDA drug databases (Orange Book, NDC Directory, recalls, shortages) covering 20,000+ approved drugs, plus CMS pricing; see our methodology.
minor Known Drug Interaction
No significant adverse interactions with commonly used premedications or drugs used during anesthesia and surgery (including atropine, scopolamine, glycopyrrolate, diazepam, hydroxyzine, d-tubocurarine, succinylcholine and other nondepolarizing muscle relaxants) or topical local anesthetics (including lidocaine, dyclonine HCl and Cetacaine) have been observed in adults or pediatric patients.
Atropine is a medicine that can temporarily block severe effects on your body. It can treat certain types of poisoning and help with a very slow heart rate.
Midazolam is a medicine that makes you feel calm, relaxed, and sleepy. It can also cause you to forget things that happen while you are taking it.
Atropine is used to treat severe or life-threatening muscarinic effects. This includes reducing saliva production, acting as an antivagal agent, and treating poisoning from organophosphorus or certain mushrooms. It can also treat a very slow heart rate that can lead to cardiac arrest.
Midazolam is used to sedate you before a surgery or procedure to help you relax and feel less anxious. It can also be used to help you feel calm during procedures like bronchoscopies or endoscopies. Midazolam can also be used to start general anesthesia before you get other medicines.
Atropine works by blocking the effects of a chemical called acetylcholine in your body. This helps to reduce saliva, relax your airways, and increase your heart rate. It counteracts the effects of certain poisons by blocking their action on your body.
Midazolam belongs to a class of drugs called benzodiazepines. It works by slowing down activity in your brain and nervous system. This helps to reduce anxiety, promote relaxation, and cause sleepiness.
- • Dry mouth
- • Blurred vision
- • Sensitivity to light
- • Fast heart rate
- • Decreased breathing rate
- • Tenderness at the injection site
- • Pain during injection
- Diarrhoea 535
- Hypotension 485
- Nausea 458
- Death 445
- Dyspnoea 394
- Seizure 1,373
- Hypotension 1,296
- Drug Interaction 1,088
- Toxicity To Various Agents 846
- Acute Kidney Injury 845
If you have coronary artery disease, the total dose of atropine should be limited to avoid a fast heart rate. Atropine may cause acute glaucoma, pyloric obstruction, complete urinary retention, or thick bronchial secretions.
Midazolam can cause serious breathing problems, including slowed or stopped breathing. This is more likely to happen if you are also taking opioid pain medicines. You must be closely monitored by trained medical staff while receiving midazolam. Make sure the facility has the equipment and medicines needed to treat breathing problems immediately.
If you are pregnant and have a life-threatening condition, you should still receive atropine if needed. Small amounts of atropine can pass into breast milk. To minimize exposure to the baby, you may pump and discard your milk for 24 hours after using atropine before breastfeeding again.
Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. Midazolam may harm an unborn baby. It is not known if midazolam passes into breast milk. Talk to your doctor about the risks and benefits of using this medicine while breastfeeding.
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How to Read This atropine vs midazolam Comparison
atropine is classified in the Anticholinergic drug class, while midazolam sits within the Benzodiazepine class. Drugs from different classes work through distinct mechanisms, so a head-to-head comparison illustrates trade-offs rather than equivalence. Both drugs are prescription-only, so a licensed provider must authorize use.
Adverse event totals above are pulled from the FDA's Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). For these top-ranked reactions alone, atropine has 2,317 submissions while midazolam has 5,448. Those figures reflect cumulative reporting volume, not per-patient risk, so older, widely dispensed drugs typically look worse on count alone. These two drugs have a known minor interaction flagged in FDA labeling, attributed to these medications do not cause any significant bad reactions when they are given at the same time for surgery.. Serious warnings, pregnancy guidance, and contraindications can differ even when indications overlap.
A table cannot represent individual circumstances. Data here is sourced from FDA Structured Product Labels (SPL) and FAERS, both of which update as manufacturers and clinicians submit new information. This registry does not provide medical, treatment, substitution, or medication-change directions for atropine or midazolam.
Registry boundary: This comparison displays source-record fields and does not provide individualized medical direction.