COMPARING THE EFFICACY OF CISAPRIDE AND RANITIDINE IN ESOPHAGITIS - ADOUBLE-BLIND, PARALLEL-GROUP STUDY IN GENERAL-PRACTICE

Patients with endoscopically confirmed oesophagitis (n=49) were treate d for 8 weeks with either cisapride (1O mg four times a day) or raniti dine (150 mg twice a day) in a double-blind study in general practice. Mean overall symptom scores fell from 10.8 to 4.5 in the cisapride gr oup and from 9.9 to 4.4 in the ranitidine group over the course of the study. The proportion of patients reporting improvements in individua l symptoms in the two treatment groups (cisapride and ranitidine respe ctively) were: heartburn, 66% and 55%; acid regurgitation, 53% and 47% ; epigastric pain, 60% and 52%; satiety, 57% and 47%; bloating, 69% an d 71%; belching, 65% and 72%; nausea, 62% and 85%; vomiting, 77% and 6 6%; poor appetite, 50% and 75%. Improvement in the endoscopic grade of oesophagitis was observed in 66% of patients receiving cisapride and 63% of those receiving ranitidine. It was concluded that cisapride is as effective as ranitidine in relieving the symptoms of oesophagitis a nd in healing oesophageal erosions.