What medication is typically used to treat malignant hyperthermia?

Dantrolene is the medication typically used to treat malignant hyperthermia, a pharmacogenetic condition that can occur as a reaction to certain general anesthetics and muscle relaxants. This serious condition is characterized by a rapid increase in body temperature and severe muscle rigidity due to a hypermetabolic state.

Dantrolene acts by interfering with calcium release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum of muscle cells, thereby reducing the excessive calcium levels that contribute to the muscle rigidity and increased metabolism seen in malignant hyperthermia. By doing so, it helps to restore normal muscle function and lower body temperature.

The other medications listed, while used in various clinical contexts, do not address the underlying issues associated with malignant hyperthermia. For instance, Diprovan (Propofol) is an anesthetic agent, Protamine is used to reverse the effects of heparin, and Lidocaine serves primarily as a local anesthetic or antiarrhythmic agent. None of these would mitigate the severe metabolic response associated with malignant hyperthermia like Dantrolene can.