Severely burned patients suffer from rapidly changing metabolic and hemodynamic abnormalities that could alter drug kinetics. The kinetics of cimetidine, commonly used in the prophylaxis of acute stress erosions, were studied during fluid resuscitation of 11 patients with mean burn sizes of 45% total body surface area. Six patients were studied after the completion of fluid resuscitation. Total clearance, steady-state volume of distribution, and cimetidine t1/2 did not change between the early period after burn and after fluid resuscitation, but before the completion of fluid resuscitation patients had lower renal and greater nonrenal cimetidine clearance than after resuscitation. The increase in nonrenal cimetidine clearance resulted in decreased urinary recovery of unchanged drug, 50.7 +/- 14% during fluid resuscitation and 81.0% +/- 6% after resuscitation.
Adult Burns