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World J Gastroenterol. Feb 7, 2006; 12(5): 791-795
Published online Feb 7, 2006. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v12.i5.791
Omeprazole maintenance therapy prevents recurrent ulcer bleeding after surgery for duodenal ulcer
Konstantinos Demertzis, Dimitrios Polymeros, Theodoros Emmanuel, Konstantinos Triantafyllou, Pericles Tassios, Spiros D Ladas
Konstantinos Demertzis, Dimitrios Polymeros, Theodoros Emmanuel, Konstantinos Triantafyllou, Pericles Tassios, Spiros D Ladas, Hepatogastroenterology Unit, 2nd Department of Internal Medicine, “Attikon” University General Hospital, 11528 Athens, Greece
Correspondence to: Professor Spiros D Ladas, MD, PhD, Hepatogastroenterology Unit, 2nd Department of Internal Medicine, “Attikon” University General Hospital, 23 Sisini Street, 11528 Athens, Greece. sdladas@hol.gr
Telephone: +30-210-5326442 Fax: +30-210-5326422
Received: May 24, 2005
Revised: May 29, 2005
Accepted: July 20, 2005
Published online: February 7, 2006
Abstract

AIM: To evaluate the omeprazole maintenance therapy in patients with recurrent ulcer bleeding after surgery for duodenal ulcer.

METHODS: We studied 15 consecutive patients with recurrent ulcer bleeding after surgery for duodenal ulcer. Omeprazole (20 mg/d) maintenance therapy was given after ulcer healing. In addition to clinical follow-up, ambulatory 24-h gastric pH assay was performed before and during omeprazole therapy in those patients and controls with previous duodenal ulcer surgery but no ulcer recurrence.

RESULTS: All the 15 ulcers were healed after being treated with omeprazole (40 mg/d) for 2 mo. Eleven patients with two (1-9) episodes of recurrent ulcer bleeding completed the follow-up (43, 12-72 mo). None of them had a bleeding episode while on omeprazole. One patient discontinued the therapy and had recurrent bleeding. The median 24-h fraction time of gastric pH <4 in patients was 80, 46-95%, and was reduced to 32, 13-70% by omeprazole (P = 0.002).

CONCLUSION: Long-term maintenance therapy with omeprazole (20 mg/day) is effective in preventing recurrent ulcer bleeding.

Keywords: Duodenal ulcer; Gastrectomy; Vagotomy; Omeprazole