Rapid healing of gastric ulcers with lansoprazole.

BACKGROUND

Lansoprazole is a new proton pump inhibitor which powerfully decreases acid secretion.

METHODS

We compared the efficacy and short-term safety of lansoprazole against ranitidine in the healing of gastric ulcer. This was a parallel group, comparative multicentre, prospectively randomized, double-blind study which included 250 patients with gastric ulcer, 219 of whom had follow-up endoscopic data.

RESULTS

Both lansoprazole 30 mg and 60 mg daily produced significantly more rapid healing of gastric ulcer than ranitidine 300 mg nightly with healing rates after 4 weeks of 78% (P < 0.05), 84% (P < 0.01) and 61%, respectively. After 8 weeks, the corresponding healing rates were 99%, 97% and 91% (P = 0.08). Symptom relief was similar for all treatment groups, but fewer antacids were used by patients receiving lansoprazole. Sixty-nine patients experienced 91 adverse events; the incidence, pattern and severity was similar across all three treatment groups.

CONCLUSIONS

Lansoprazole 30 mg and 60 mg once daily had similar efficacy. Both were superior to ranitidine 300 mg nocte in healing gastric ulcer. The short-term safety profile of lansoprazole was similar to ranitidine. These data indicate that lansoprazole should be used at a dose of 30 mg once daily for the treatment of gastric ulcers.