Treatment of reflux gastritis: double blind comparison between clebopride and domperidone. A preliminary report

Altered gastro-duodenal motility seems to be a major factor of alkaline gastritis. Therefore prokinetic drugs have been extensively used for the treatment of this disease. Aim of this study has been to compare the effects of domperidone with those of a more recent drug of the orthopramide class, clebopride. Thirty patients affected by reflux gastritis have been randomly allocated to one of the two treatments. Clinical symptoms, endoscopic and histologic appearance of gastric mucosa, gastric pH and bile acid concentration in gastric juice have been evaluated before and after a four week course of therapy. A statistically significant improvement was observed for the clinical symptoms in the subjects treated with clebopride. Even if no statistical difference has been pointed out for the other parameters between and within the two groups, a slight trend in favour of clebopride was observed. It is concluded that clebopride is at least as effective as domperidone for the treatment of reflux gastritis but that more prolonged studies and different administration schedules are requested for a better evaluation.