[Value of cimetidine in the prevention of Mendelson's syndrome in abdominal surgery].

The action of cimetidine on gastric acid secretion being perfectly known, the authors sought to confirm the possible efficacy of a single injection of cimetidine, by the intramuscular route, combined with the premedication, on the reduction in gastric secretion during the operative period. Fifty patients undergoing routine surgery were divided into two groups at random. One group was used as a control. The patients of the other group received 200 mg of cimetidine by intramuscular injection one hour before surgery. In all patients, gastric pH was measured by a colorimetric technique at the time of induction, one hour after induction and two hours after induction. The number of samples with a pH of less than 2.5 was very significantly decreased (p less than 0.01) at the time of the induction of anaesthesia. The authors suggest the administration of cimetidine as pre-anaesthetic premedication in all cases where a Mendelson's syndrome is particularly feared.