Non-ulcer dyspepsia in Nigerians clinical and therapeutic results

To determine the role of hyperacidity non-ulcer dyspepsia, forty-five Nigerians with this diagnosis were compared with twenty patients with proven duodenal ulcer with regard to their basal, maximal and peak acid outputs. The mean basal, maximal and peak acid outputs for the duodenal ulcer group were 6.72, 21.4 and 30.6 mol/h, respectively. In contrast, the corresponding values in non ulcer dyspepsia were 3.46, 13.03 and 17.83 mol/h respectively. This value in the two groups were significantly different. The efficacy of ranitidine at 300 mg daily for the control of the symptoms of non-ulcer dyspepsia was compared with placebo in a double-blind 4-weeks clinical trial. There was no significant difference in the response of the two groups comprising twenty-three and twenty-two patients, respectively. It is concluded that hyperacidity probably plays little role in non-ulcer dyspepsia and that the newer anti-ulcer drugs may be of little benefit under these circumstances.