[Omeprazole and maintenance treatment: new concepts for traditional therapies?]

Duodenal ulcer and reflux oesophagitis are a chronic diseases characterized by remission and relapses. If no active prophylactic treatment is given after healing around 70-100% of the patients have a relapse during the first year. Various therapeutic strategies have been suggested to maintain the disease in remission. Continuous maintenance treatment with H2 blockers has proved to be effective in reducing the spontaneous recurrence rate of duodenal ulcers but the results are disappointing in reflux oesophagitis. Initials studies on different treatment regimen of omeprazole for maintenance treatment have indicated promising results. The efficacy and safety of this drug have been evaluated in this article.