[Cimetidine in pre-anaesthetic premedication. Intra-operative clinical tolerance (author's transl)]

Intra-operative clinical tolerance of cimetidine was studied in 100 patients undergoing abdominal surgery. Cimetidine (400 mg) was administered one hour before operation intramuscularly. Cimetidine did not alter pharmacological action of usual anesthetics. Recovery was quieter. There was no significant changes in cardiovascular and electrocardiographic datas. These results are in accordance with previous prospectives works. However, heart rate seems to decrease three hours after cimetidine injection. Such bradycardias as well as blood pressure drop have been recently published by various authors in retrospective studies, and may be explained by an action of cimitidine on cardiac H2 receptors.