Etomidate (USAN, INN, BAN) (marketed as Amidate) is a short acting intravenous anaesthetic agent used for the induction of general anaesthesia and for sedation for short procedures such as reduction of dislocated joints, tracheal intubation and cardioversion. It was discovered at Janssen Pharmaceutica in 1964 and it was introduced as an intravenous agent in 1972 in Europe and in 1983 in United States.

Etomidate is a carboxylated imidazole derivative that has anesthetic and amnestic properties, but that has no analgesic properties.

In emergency settings, etomidate is one of the most frequently used sedative hypnotic agents. It is used by physicians for conscious sedation and as a part of a rapid sequence induction to induce anaesthesia. It is used as an anaesthetic agent since it has a rapid onset of action and a safe cardiovascular risk profile, and therefore is less likely to cause a significant drop in blood pressure than other induction agents. In addition, etomidate is often used because of its easy dosing profile, limited suppression of ventilation, lack of histamine liberation and protection from myocardial and cerebral ischemia. Thus, etomidate is an ideal induction agent for patients who are haemodynamically unstable. Etomidate also has interesting characteristics for patients with traumatic brain injury because it is one of the only anesthetic agents able to decrease intracranial pressure and maintain a normal arterial pressure.