In airway management, premedication (or pretreatment) refers to the administration of medications shortly before actual anesthesia (a.k.a. before induction and paralysis). This is done to reduce complications from the intubation itself. For example, Lidocaine is sometimes given to decrease the rise in intracranial pressure from forceful laryngoscopy.

In practice, premedication before induction is rarely performed outside of surgical anesthesia, largely because of the lack of evidence for its effectiveness. However, they can be useful in select patients.