Does long-term maintenance therapy with ranitidine affect the natural course of duodenal ulcer disease?

Abstract

Objective: To study the course of chronic duodenal ulcer disease and the influence of risk factors on duodenal ulcer relapse after 2 years of maintenance treatment. Design: Prospective multicentre 1-year follow-up study in outpatients. Patients: Nine hundred and sixty-four patients with chronic duodenal ulcerations who had completed 2 years of maintenance treatment (ranitidine 150 mg daily). Main outcome measures: Duodenal ulcer relapse rate. Results: During the 1-year follow-up, 233 patients continued and 731 discontinued maintenance treatment. During this period, 27.7 relapses/100 patients per year [95% confidence interval (CI) 24.9-30.5] occurred compared with 169.4 relapses/100 patients per year (95% CI 144-196) before and 7.7 (95% CI 6.2-9.7) symptomatic and 2.2 (95% CI 1.3-3.3) asymptomatic relapses/100 patients per year during the 2 years of maintenance treatment