Prophylactic treatment with cimetidine after renal transplantation

17 consecutive patients who underwent renal transplantation during the period 1979-1981 and were at risk of gastrointestinal hemorrhage were treated prophylactically with the histamine H2-blocker cimetidine without antacids. The incidence of gastrointestinal bleeding, the number of rejection episodes and graft survival were compared with 17 patients, who had received renal transplant during the period 1976-1978 and had not received cimetidine. The incidence of gastrointestinal hemorrhage was not reduced in the cimetidine-treated patients. In addition, cimetidine treatment neither increased the total number of rejection episodes nor changed the long-term graft survival. The results of this study indicate that cimetidine does not appear to be superior to antacids in the prevention of gastrointestinal bleeding in renal transplant recipients.