• C Santander, R G Grávalos, A Gómez-Cedenilla, J Cantero, and J M Pajares.
• Gastroenterology Department, Hospital Universitario de La Princesa, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain.
• Am. J. Gastroenterol. 1996 Aug 1; 91 (8): 1549-52.

ObjectiveOur objective was to assess the effectiveness of therapy for Helicobacter pylori (HP) on the prevention of recurrent bleeding in patients with recent upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage from peptic ulcers.MethodsWe performed a prospective follow-up study without randomization on 125 consecutive patients (83 males and 42 females) who had presented with their first major episode of upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage from peptic ulcer (22 gastric and 103 duodenal ulcers). All 125 patients were HP-positive. During the acute phase of bleeding, all patients were treated with standard supportive measures. After the acute bleeding phase, patients were allocated to two treatment groups: 1) antimicrobial therapy-84 patients received one of the following three regimens: 1) amoxicillin 500 mg t.i.d. for 10 days + omeprazole 20 mg b.i.d. for 30 days; 2) clarythromycin 500 mg t.i.d. for 12 days + omeprazole 20 mg b.i.d. for 30 days; or 3) amoxicillin 500 mg t.i.d. for 10 days + metronidazole 500 mg t.i.d. for 10 days + colloidal bismuth subcitrate 240 mg b.i.d. for 30 days. For long-term antisecretion maintenance treatment, 41 patients were allocated to either omeprazole 20 mg once a day or ranitidine 150 mg once a day, for 1 yr.ResultsDuring the follow-up period, peptic ulcers recurred in six patients in the antibiotic group (7.14%) and 13 patients in the maintenance group (31.7%) (p < 0.001). The fraction of patients without recurrent bleeding was greater in the antibiotic group than in the maintenance group. Two patients in the antibiotic group (2.3%) and five in the maintenance group (12.1%) had recurrent hemorrhages (p < 0.1).ConclusionCure of HP infection reduces the recurrence of peptic ulcer and of rebleeding from ulcer disease more effectively than does long-term maintenance therapy.

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