Prophylaxis for Stress-Related Gastric Hemorrhage

Abstract

Letters15 April 1995Prophylaxis for Stress-Related Gastric HemorrhageRonald Fogel, Tamir Ben-Menachem, and Robert S. BresalierRonald FogelSmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals, Philadelphia, PA 19101. University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94105. Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, MI 48202.Search for more papers by this author, Tamir Ben-MenachemSmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals, Philadelphia, PA 19101. University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94105. Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, MI 48202.Search for more papers by this author, and Robert S. BresalierSmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals, Philadelphia, PA 19101. University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94105. Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, MI 48202.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-122-8-199504150-00025 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail IN RESPONSE:Cantu and Karlstadt question our conclusions because we excluded patients “at increased risk for gastrointestinal bleeding.” Our aim was to determine whether prophylaxis with sucralfate or cimetidine was more effective than placebo in the prevention of stress-related hemorrhage for patients admitted to a medical intensive care unit [1]. Thirty-six percent of our 877 patients were not eligible because gastrointestinal bleeding was detected before admission. An additional 12% of patients had a recent history of hemorrhage, which is a frequent cause for exclusion from prophylaxis studies [2, 3]. Patients at risk for gastrointestinal hemorrhage from causes other than stress-related ...