The Hemodynamic Effects of Intravenous Ranitidine in Intensive Care Unit Patients: A Double-Blind Prospective Study

The hemodynamic effects of intravenous ranitidine were studied in a prospective double‐blind fashion in postoperative intensive care unit patients to determine if this H2 blocker produced the same transient fall in mean arterial pressure and systemic vascular resistance known to occur with cimetidine infusion. We found no statistically significant hemodynamic changes from baseline associated with infusion of 50 mg ranitidine over a 5‐minute period. The different chemical ring structure of ranitidine and its effect on H2 vascular and cardiac receptors may account for these observations.