What is "trospium chloride"

n. A muscarinic antagonist urinary antispasmodic.

Trospium chloride ( INN) is used to treat overactive bladder.

It has side effects typical of drugs like it, namely dry mouth, stomach upset, and constipation; these side effects cause problems with people taking their medicine as directed. However it doesn't cause central nervous system side effects like other drugs of its class. It is pregnancy category C and is excreted somewhat in breast milk.

Chemically it is a quaternary ammonium cation which causes it to stay in periphery rather than crossing the blood-brain barrier. It works by causing the smooth muscle in the bladder to relax.

It was invented in the late 1960s in Germany and was first approved in Europe in 1999. It was first approved in the US in 2004, and an extended release version with once a day dosing was brought to market in 2007. It became generic in Europe in 2009 and in the US the first extended-release generic was approved in 2012.