Healing and recurrence of duodenal ulcer after treatment with tripotassium dicitrato bismuthate (TDB) tablets or cimetidine.

Eighty patients with duodenal ulcer were randomly allocated to treatment with tripotassium dicitrato bismuthate (TDB) tablets or cimetidine. Ulcers healed in 78% of patients treated with TDB and in 74% treated with cimetidine, supporting previous observations that the efficacy of these two agents is similar. Duodenal ulcer recurred in 43% of patients in the 12 months after treatment with TDB and in 78% of patients treated with cimetidine, with a significantly greater incidence of recurrence 6-12 months after cimetidine treatment. Tripotassium dicitrato bismuthate tablets may be preferable to cimetidine in the initial management of duodenal ulcer, because they offer a smaller likelihood of recurrence in the 12 months after successful treatment.