Treatment of duodenal ulcer with antacid and sulpiride. A double-blind controlled study

The effect of aluminum-magnesium hydroxide tablets (800 mg seven times per day) and that of sulpiride, a hypothalamic neurolaptic, were studied in 101 patients with duodenal ulcer in a double-blind controlled 4-wk trial. Significantly more of the patients treated with antacid, sulpiride, or antacid-sulpiride combination showed a greater than 50% reduction in ulcer size than did the patients treated with placebo. However, only in the antacid- and antacid-sulpiride-treated groups did the ulcer, with and without residual inflammation, disappear statistically more often than in the placebo-treated group. Furthermore, only in the antacid-sulpiride-treated group did complete healing, with no trace of inflammation, occur statistically more often than in the placebo-treated group. Disappearance of ulcer pain was likewise statistically more frequent in the antacid-sulpiride group than in the placebo-treated group. Antacid therapy with aluminum-magnesium hydroxide tablets appears to accelerate the rate of ulcer healing. Sulpiride appears to have a minor but definite synergism with antacids. Cigarette smoking affected ulcer healing adversely; on the other hand, factors favorable to healing were the early onset age of ulcer symptoms and acid hypersecretion. Male patients also healed more favorably than females.