Celecoxib plus aspirin versus naproxen and lansoprazole plus aspirin: a randomized, double-blind, endoscopic trial

Patients requiring low-dose aspirin along with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are at increased risk for gastrointestinal injury. This study compared the incidence of gastroduodenal ulcers in patients treated with low-dose aspirin and a cyclooxygenase-2 selective nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug or a nonselective nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug plus the proton pump inhibitor lansoprazole.

Subjects 18 years or older with osteoarthritis, without gastroduodenal ulcer or erosive esophagitis at baseline endoscopy, and a cardiovascular indication for prophylaxis low-dose (81 or 325 mg) aspirin were prescribed open-label aspirin and blindly randomized to celecoxib 200 mg/day or naproxen 500 mg twice daily plus lansoprazole 30 mg once daily. Endoscopy was performed at 12 weeks or early termination.

One thousand forty-five subjects were randomized and received at least 1 dose of study medication, and 854 (n = 426 celecoxib, n = 428 naproxen plus lansoprazole) subjects with both baseline and final visit endoscopies were evaluable for the primary efficacy analysis. Among these subjects, the rate of endoscopically confirmed gastroduodenal ulcers was not different in the celecoxib (9.9%) and naproxen plus lansoprazole (8.9%; treatment difference [95% confidence interval], 1.0% [-2.9% to 4.9%]) groups.

In patients with osteoarthritis taking low-dose aspirin, the use of celecoxib or naproxen plus lansoprazole resulted in similar rates of gastroduodenal ulceration.