Antacid therapy for emergency caesarean section

One hundred patients undergoing emergency Caesarean section were treated with cimetidine 200 mg intramuscularly when the decision was made to deliver the patient by Caesarean section and, preceding general anaesthesia, 30 ml of 0.3 M sodium citrate was administered orally. No routine antacid therapy was employed during labour. No patient had a gastric aspirate pH of less than 2.7, and only one of less than 3. The regimen is simple and effective, and treats only those patients at risk of acid aspiration.