Famotidine to Prevent Peptic Ulcer Caused by NSAIDs

Abstract

With regard to the report by Taha et al. (May 30 issue)¹ on the effect of famotidine in preventing endoscopically diagnosed gastric and duodenal ulcers, it is important to distinguish between endoscopic lesions induced by nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and NSAID-induced serious gastrointestinal complications such as bleeding and perforation. The former are common, and depending on how they are defined, can be seen in up to 80 percent of patients treated with NSAIDs.² Among the 389 patients screened by Taha et al., 104 (27 percent) had an endoscopic ulcer and were therefore excluded from the trial. Over the next 24 weeks, ulcers developed in 28 percent of the patients in the placebo group, an annual incidence rate of close to 60 percent. On the other hand, clinically important NSAID-related gastrointestinal complications are many times less common, with annual incidence rates of about 1 percent.³