[Cimetidine in the preoperative treatment of acute bleeding gastroduodenal lesions (author's transl)].

Whereas prospective studies seem to substantiate the efficacy of cimetidine treatment in the prophylaxis of acute gastrointestinal hemorrhage, communications on the therapeutic effect of cimetidine at the bleeding stage are contradictory. Our own experience is based on the treatment of 36 patients with acute hemorrhage of the upper gastrointestinal tract. Cimetidine was applied as a continuous drip, the objective being early operation when bleeding stopped, especially in peptic lesions. A primary cessation of bleeding was attained in all patients during the first 4 hours.