The effect of cimetidine on the maintenance of healing of gastric ulceration.

The rate of endoscopically confirmed gastric ulcer relapse was compared in two groups of patients with newly healed benign gastric ulcers, receiving either cimetidine 400 mg nocte or matching placebo, over a period of 1 year. Six of 24 (25%) patients on cimetidine and 16 of 27 (59%) patients on placebo had endoscopically confirmed relapse. These included two patients in each group with asymptomatic relapses. The difference in the rate of relapse between the two groups was statistically significant (P = 0.01).