Clinical trial: healing of NSAID‐associated gastric ulcers in patients continuing NSAID therapy – a randomized study comparing ranitidine with esomeprazole

Summary Background The use of non‐steroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs (NSAID) is associated with an increased risk of gastric ulcer (GU) development. Methods This multicentre, randomized, double‐blind, parallel‐group trial compared endoscopic healing rates at 4 and 8 weeks after treatment with oral esomeprazole 40 or 20 mg once daily, or ranitidine 150 mg twice daily, in patients with 1 baseline GU ≥5 mm but no GUs or duodenal ulcers >25 mm in diameter who received continued cyclooxygenase‐2–selective or non‐selective NSAID therapies. The primary outcome was the percentage of patients in each treatment group who had no GUs at week 8. Results Four hundred and forty patients were randomized to treatment. At week 8, GU healing rates (95% CI) with esomeprazole 40 mg, esomeprazole 20 mg and ranitidine were 85.7 (79.8–91.7)%, 84.8 (78.8–90.8)% and 76.3 (69.2–83.3)%, respectively; between‐group differences were not statistically significant. Week‐4 GU healing rates were 70.7 (62.9–78.4)% and 72.5 (65.0–79.9)% with esomeprazole 40 and 20 mg, respectively, and were significantly higher ( P < 0.01 for both doses) than those with ranitidine [55.4 (47.1–63.7)%]. Conclusion In patients who require continued NSAID therapy, GU healing rates at 8 weeks numerically favoured esomeprazole but were not significantly different from ranitidine.