Difference in relapse rates of duodenal ulcer after healing with cimetidine or tripotassium dicitrato bismuthate.

In a double-blind randomised trial in 75 patients with duodenal ulceration diagnosed endoscopically, 38 patients were given tripotassium dicitrato bismuthate and 37 cimetidine. There was no significant difference in the healing rates between the two drugs after 1 and 2 months, although relief of symptoms was marginally quicker with cimetidine. During follow-up for at least a year, relapse was significantly more common in patients whose ulcers had healed during treatment with cimetidine than in those whose ulcers had healed during treatment with tripotassium dicitrato bismuthate. This difference appears to be related to the medication rather than to any other difference between the two groups of patients. These results suggest that drug treatment given for a short period in duodenal-ulcer disease influences the progress of the disease.