Gastric ulcer: a double-blind comparison of 100 mg pirenzepine plus antacid versus 800 mg cimetidine plus antacid.

Fifty-five patients with endoscopically confirmed gastric ulcers received either cimetidine (28 patients) or pirenzepine (27 patients) in a randomized double-blind manner. Fifty-seven per cent of the patients treated with cimetidine and 48% of those treated with pirenzepine presented with endoscopically healed ulcers after 4 weeks of treatment. By 8 weeks complete healing had occurred in 83% of the patients taking cimetidine and 76% of those taking pirenzepine. These differences were not statistically significant. Severity of pain on entering the study was correlated with slower healing of the ulcer. Side effects occurred in 5 of 27 patients in the pirenzepine group and 3 of 28 in the cimetidine group. They were mostly mild and did not differ from side effects observed in other studies.