Use of cimetidine in esophageal atresia with lower tracheoesophageal fistula.

Pneumonia, in infants suffering from esophageal atresia with lower esophageal fistula, is usually caused by gastric reflux through the fistula, In order to abolish the acidity of the gastric content, Cimetidine i.v. infusion was used during the first 12--48 hr after diagnosis, while treating the pneumonia. The amount of Cimetidine required to induce achlorhydria was established by serial aspiration of gastric content, in infants and children with gastrostomies performed for various causes.