Improved Nutrient Absorption after Cimetidine in Short-Bowel Syndrome with Gastric Hypersecretion

Abstract

MODERATE gastric hypersecretion is not uncommon after massive small-bowel resection,¹ though it may be temporary.² We speculated that, in patients with the short-bowel syndrome, increased duodenal acid and volume loads might impair digestion and absorption in the proximal gut. Cimetidine, a potent gastric antisecretory agent, might partially correct these abnormalities, allowing for greater efficiency of intraluminal digestion. The following studies in a patient with the short-bowel syndrome lend support to that speculation.Material and Methods Case report. A 36-year-old woman was seen because of massive steatorrhea (excretion of 18 g per day on a 20-g-fat diet), diarrhea (10 to . . .