[Financial restrictions in health care systems could affect treatment quality of GERD-patients]

To directly compare the efficacy and safety of pantoprazole 40 mg VS. omeprazole 20 mg in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

915 Patients suffering from symptomatic GERD B-D (Los Angeles classification) were included in a double-blind randomized multicenter clinical trial and treated with either pantoprazole 40 mg od or omeprazole 20 mg od for six weeks. Primary efficacy criterion was the first time to reach normal symptoms as assessed by the questionnaire ReQuest-GI.

Compared to omeprazole 20 mg, pantoprazole 40 mg achieved a significantly faster rate of symptom relief (p = 0.0298). Thus, as assessed with the ReQuest questionnaire, patients treated with pantoprazole 40 mg experienced relief from the 7 leading GERD symptoms 2 days earlier than those treated with omeprazole 20 mg. Long-lasting sustained relief from symptoms was also achieved earlier with pantoprazole than with omeprazole; in patients treated with pantoprazole, the daily symptom load was lower than in those treated with omeprazole. After 6 weeks of treatment, over 90 percent of patients were free from symptoms in both treatment groups (93.7 % in the pantoprazole, vs. 91.8 % in the omeprazole group, PP). Both medications were well tolerated.

GERD patients treated with pantoprazole 40 mg experience a significantly faster relief from their leading symptoms than those treated with omeprazole 20 mg.