Cigarette smoking and duodenal ulcer healing. An endoscopic study of 197 patients

Cigarette smoking is suspected to aggravate the symptoms and to delay the healing of gastroduodenal peptic ulceration. The healing rate of duodenal ulcer was endoscopically studied in 82 heavy smokers and compared to that of a nonsmoking control group of 92 patients. The two groups received the antiulcer treatment in a double-blind fashion with one of the following regimens: cimetidine 1 g, trimipramine 50 mg, prostaglandin E1 analogue 800 or 200 micrograms, low-dose antacid or placebo. The smokers' overall healing rate was 45.1% compared to 51.1% in the nonsmokers. The difference between the two groups was not statistically significant. This finding is not in agreement with previous reports showing an adverse effect of smoking on the healing process of duodenal ulcer.