Effects of 3-day IV pantoprazole versus omeprazole on 24-hour intragastric acidity at 3 days in Chinese patients with duodenal ulcer: A single-center, prospective, randomized, comparative, pilot trial

Background: Pantoprazole and omeprazole are irreversible proton pump inhibitors that have been found to significantly reduce intragastric acidity in patients with peptic ulcer and/or esophagins. It has been reported that gastric acid secretion is lower in the Chinese patients compared with the Western population. Based on a MEDLINE search, no studies of the treatment of in tragastric acidity with IV pantoprazole have been conducted in the Chinese population to date. Objective: This trial was performed to compare the effects of IV pantoprazole versus omeprazole on 24-hour intragastric acidity in Chinese patients with endoscopically confirmed duodenal ulcer. Methods: This single-center, randomized, pilot study was conducted at the Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan. Chinese patients aged 18 to 80 years with endoscopically confirmed duodenal ulcer were randomly assigned to receive a continuous IV infusion of pantoprazole or omeprazole 160 mg/d for 3 days. On days 4 to 14, patients received pantoprazole 40 mg/d or omeprazole 20 mg/d orally. During endoscopic examination at enrollment, an antral biopsy specimen was obtained for rapid urease test, with each patient's agreement, by a blinded investigator. The primary end point was 24-hour intragastric pH on day 3. Secondary end points were percentage of the total time during the 24-hour period (%t) pH