Effects of ranitidine on maternal gastric juice and neonates when administered prior to caesarean section

Ranitidine hydrochloride, a histamine H2-receptor antagonist, was intravenously administered to 61 pregnant women at a dose of 50 mg as premedication for caesarean section; its effects on gastric secretion were studied in the mother and the newborn. The volume of the maternal gastric juice collected immediately after the induction of anaesthesia averaged 14.0 +/- 10.0 ml with pH 3.48 +/- 1.70, and at the time of extubation, 3.6 +/- 2.8 ml with pH 4.19 +/- 1.79, respectively. Forty-four full-term neonates whose mothers had received ranitidine were selected to investigate the effects of ranitidine. Another 45 full-term normal newborns delivered vaginally, and 14 by caesarean section, served as controls. No effects of ranitidine infusion in the mothers were detected in the newborn children. The gastric pH of the newborn at birth and 24 hours after birth, gastrointestinal symptoms and the general growth checked at the regular one-month work-up after birth did not differ in test and control groups.