Cimetidine in the treatment of reflux oesophagitis

Twenty-two adult patients with active endoscopically proven reflux oesophagitis entered a double-blind trial of treatment with either cimetidine (1 g/day) or placebo. A repeat endoscopy was carried out at eight weeks after the beginning of treatment on 19 of the patients. The mucosa appeared macroscopically normal at eight weeks in 81.8% of the cimetidine-treated patients, while 90% of patients were described histologically as having a normal or unremarkable mucosa. The results in placebo-treated patients were 55.6% and 44.4% respectively. The cimetidine-treated patients consumed significantly less antacids than the placebo-treated patients, and the over all assessment of their well-being was significantly better (90.9% patient satisfaction with treatment in the cimetidine group compared to 18.2% in the placebo group). Two patients in the placebo group did not complete the trial due to continuing severity of their symptoms, while none in the cimetidine group felt that their condition had remained static or was worse.