Gastric pH values were studied prior to, and up to, ninety minutes after an intravenous injection of cimetidine 200 mg given before general anaesthesia, in twenty surgical patients, all with a gastric pH < 3.5. At thirty, sixty and ninety minutes, sixteen, eighteen and twenty patients had a gastric pH>3.5 respectively. In conclusion, the results of the present study indicate that cimetidine 200 mg given intravenously 90 minutes before surgery will reduce the hazard of chemical pneumonitis should stomach content be aspirated.
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