Rabeprazole , a substituted benzimidazole, represents a new generation of
proton pump inhibitors that has recently been approved by the FDA and
European Union for
treatment of
acid -related
diseases .
OBJECTIVES: To assess the
efficacy and tolerability of
rabeprazole 20 mg in actual conditions of use in everyday clinical practice on subjects with
diagnosis of erosive
gastroesophageal reflux disease and/or gastric and/or
duodenal ulcer .
PATIENTS /
METHODS: A total of 171
outpatients (55%
men , 45%
women ) with a mean age of 42.5 years were enrolled in this trial. The majority of subjects (81.0%) were Caucasians.
Patients with endoscopically confirmed erosive/ulcerative
gastroesophageal reflux disease (Savary-Miller
classification ),
duodenal ulcer and/or benign
gastric ulcer were eligible to receive
rabeprazole 20 mg once daily for 4 to 8 weeks, depending on the
diagnosis and at
investigators ' discretion.
Patients were requested to
record their symptoms in a diary card in a daily basis.
RESULTS: One hundred and sixty two
patients completed the study in accordance with the protocol.
Reflux esophagitis was diagnosed in 78 (48.1%)
patients ,
duodenal ulcer in 39 (24.1%) and
gastric ulcer in 24 (14.8%). Eleven (6.8%)
patients presented
reflux esophagitis associated with
duodenal ulcer and 7 (4.3%) associated with
gastric ulcer . Finally, 3 (1.9%) presented both gastric and
duodenal ulcer . Fifty-three percentage of
patients were free of symptoms on the first day of
treatment and 89.5% after a week. The healing rate was 84.4% for
patients with
reflux esophagitis , 90.6% for
duodenal ulcer and 90.9% for
gastric ulcer . The
adverse effects were minimal and transitory.
CONCLUSIONS: Rabeprazole is highly effective and well tolerated in acute healing of
reflux esophagitis and
peptic ulcers . In addition, it provides fast symptoms relief