Half-dose rabeprazole has an equal efficacy to standard-dose rabeprazole on endoscopic submucosal dissection-induced...

Although endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD)-induced ulcers heal faster and recur less often than non-iatrogenic gastric ulcers, the optimal dosage and duration of proton pump inhibitor treatment for ESD-induced ulcers remain unclear.

To evaluate the efficacy of half-dose rabeprazole on endoscopic submucosal dissection-induced ulcer compared with standard dose rabeprazole.

The study was a prospective randomized controlled double-blind trial at a single tertiary hospital. A total of 80 patients who underwent ESD for gastric neoplasia were enrolled. Of these patients, 10 were not followed to completion. Final analysis included the remaining 70 patients. Rabeprazole 20 or 10 mg, depending on randomization, was given orally for 4 weeks after ESD.

Of the 70 patients, 45 (64 %) were men, and the median age was 65.2 ± 9.7 years. The mean ESD-induced ulcer area was 673 mm(2). No significant differences in ulcer area reduction ratio (p = 0.49) or ulcer-related symptoms (p = 0.91) were observed between the two groups at 4 weeks after ESD.

For ESD-induced ulcers, treatment with 10 mg of rabeprazole daily produces a similar outcome as 20 mg of rabeprazole with regard to healing efficacy and symptom resolution.