Short Term Treatment of Duodenal Ulcer with Famotidine or Omeprazole – A Randomized, Controlled Study

Famotidine is a kind of H2-receptor antagonist which is used in the medical therapy of peptic ulcer. Omeprazole is a specific inhibitor of hydrogenpotassium ATP ase of the gastric parietal cell. We report a randomized, controlled study of short term treatment of duodenal ulcer with omeprazole or famotidine for 2 weeks. The patients with duodenal ulcer in active stage after videoendoscopic examination were randomized into two groups. One group was treated with omeprazole 20 mg once daily for 2 weeks. The other group was treated with famotidine 20 mg twice daily for 2 weeks. The index of pain and side effect was recorded during the course of treatment. Followed up videoendoscopy was performed after 2 weeks of treatment. Our results showed: omeprazole group included 9 patients (7 male, 2 female) and famotiding group included 10 patients (8 male, 2 female). The scarring rate of duodenal ulcer of the patients in omeprazole treatment was 88.9% and the mean of pain index was 2.6. The scarring rate of duodenal ulcer of the patients in famotidine treatment was 70% (P=0.333) and the mean of pain index was 4.6. The index of pain in omeprazole treatment had a declining tendency but both the scar rate and pain index had no statistically significant difference.