Rioprostil in the healing of duodenal ulceration: a short report

A preliminary analysis on a group of 182 patients participating in a large, multicentre trial comparing nocturnal rioprostil, 600 micrograms and ranitidine, 300 mg, is presented. The results are confined to the ulcer healing properties. Healing rates are 61% and 77%, respectively, at 4 weeks, and 86% and 96% at 8 weeks. The advantage of ranitidine reaches statistical significance at 8 weeks (p less than 0.05). About 20% of patients taking rioprostil report loose bowels or diarrhoea, but only two patients withdraw for this problem.