Symptomatic effect of a low-dose antacid regimen in reflux oesophagitis.

The symptomatic effect of a 2-week low-dose antacid tablet regimen was assessed in a prospective, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover trial in 47 patients with endoscopically verified reflux oesophagitis. During treatment with antacid there were lower global symptomatic scores (p less than 0.05), less acid regurgitation (p less than 0.05), and fewer days (p less than 0.01) and nights (p less than 0.05) with heartburn than during placebo therapy. Also, significantly more patients preferred antacid than placebo treatment (p less than 0.05). Thus, a low-dose antacid tablet regimen relieves symptoms significantly better than placebo in patients with reflux oesophagitis.