Acid suppression with ranitidine plus oral triple therapy improves ulcer healing but not Helicobacter pylori eradication

BACKGROUND/AIMS: To evaluate whether the addition of 2 weeks of ranitidine to a 1-week oral triple therapy (OTT) regimen improved ulcer healing and H. pylori eradication. METHODOLOGY: Two hundred and eleven consecutive patients with an endoscopic diagnosis of active duodenal ulcer (DU) and a positive antrum biopsy for H . pylori were enrolled. Those attending the Hospital Vera Cruz (Group A, n= 142) received a 14-day course of ranitidine (150mg after breakfast and dinn er) plus a 1-week OTT, consisting of bismuth subcitrate, (240mg after the 3 meals), tetracycline (500mg, 10min before the three meals and at bedtime), and furazolidone (200mg after breakfast and dinner). Patients from the Hos pital das Clinicas (Group B, n=69) received the same OTT as Group A but wit hout ranitidine. Patients underwent endoscopy again on average 40 days (ran ge: 30-60 days) after completing therapy in order to assess ulcer healing a nd H. pylori status. RESULTS: Both schedules were equally efficient in eradicating H. pylori wit h 90% (128/142) eradication in group A, and 84% (58/69) in group B (p=0.2). In contrast, the addition of ranitidine to OTT improved ulcer healing when compared with OTT alone (96%, 137/142, vs. 70%, 48/69; p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that the association of acid suppressi on, obtained with 2 week ranitidine administration with OTT improved ulcer healing but did not enhance H. pylori eradication.