Maintenance sucralfate and duodenal ulcer relapse--an interim report

Fifty-four patients with recently healed duodenal ulcers were entered into a single-blind 1 year follow-up study to assess the value of sucralfate in preventing relapse and to establish the lowest dose required to achieve this. To date, 35 patients have completed a 6-month follow-up period. Endoscopic recurrences were found in 1 of 9 patients randomised to sucralfate 1 g bd, in 3 of 14 on sucralfate 1 g nocte, and in 7 of 12 of the controls. The relapse rates in the sucralfate treated groups were significantly lower than in the control group, but the small number of patients at this stage of the study precludes firm conclusion as to whether a maintenance dose of 1 g nocte is as effective as a dose of 1 g bd.