Treatment of Peptic Disorder involves a combination of medications to kill the H. pylori bacteria (if present), reduce acid levels, and protect the GI tract. This strategy allows your ulcer to heal and reduces the chance it will come back. Take all of your medications exactly as prescribed.
Medications may include one or more of the following:
- Acid blockers (such as cimetidine, ranitidine, or famotidine)
- Antibiotics to kill H. pylori
- Bismuth to help protect the lining and kill the bacteria
- Medications that protect the tissue lining (such as sucralfate)
- Proton pump inhibitors such as omeprazole (Prilosec), lansoprazole (Prevacid), or esomeprazole (Nexium)
If you have an ulcer without an H. pylori infection, your doctor will likely prescribe a proton pump inhibitor for 8 weeks. You may also be prescribed this type of medicine if you must continue taking aspirin or NSAIDs for other health conditions.
If a peptic ulcer bleeds a lot, an EGD may be needed to stop the bleeding. Surgery may be needed if bleeding cannot be stopped with an EGD, or if the ulcer has caused a perforation.
Upcoming Medicines for Treatment of Peptic Disorder
Rabeprazole, a new proton pump inhibitor, is being studied in patients with acid-peptic-related diseases (duodenal ulcer, gastric ulcer, GERD) in three placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized clinical trials. Men and women over the age of 18 were enrolled if the presence of an active duodenal or gastric ulcer or erosive or ulcerative esophagitis was confirmed on upper gastrointestinal endoscopy.
Patients were randomly allocated to either placebo or rabeprazole 20 mg or 40 mg in the duodenal and gastric ulcer protocols or to placebo or rabeprazole 10 mg, 20 mg, or 40 mg in the GERD protocol. All doses of rabeprazole in all three studies were statistically significantly superior to placebo in healing acid-related lesions. There were no treatment differences between the rabeprazole doses in healing active peptic lesions. The incidence of positive [13C]urea breath test for H. pylori was 53% in patients with duodenal or gastric ulcers. H. pylori status was not effected by treatment with rabeprazole.
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