Cimetidine dynamics after single intravenous doses

Cimetidine dynamics were studied in nine multiple‐trauma patients. Mean elimination half‐life was 2.27 hr, mean volume of the central compartment was 0.29 l/kg, mean volume at steady state averaged 0.90 l/kg, and mean total body clearance was 9.02 ml/min/kg. After intravenous cimetidine, drug concentrated in gastric fluid reached a peak concentration in 3 hr. Gastric plasma cimetidine ratios after equilibration ranged between 3.0 and 4.3. There was a correlation between cimetidine gastric juice concentration and gastric pH (r = 0.50), but no correlation was found between plasma cimetidine concentration and pH (r = 0.13) Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (1982) 31 , 83–88; doi: 10.1038/clpt.1982.13