Published online Apr 7, 2014. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i13.3615
Revised: December 19, 2013
Accepted: January 3, 2014
Published online: April 7, 2014
AIM: To investigate the efficacy of a standard triple therapy (comprising rabeprazole, clarithromycin, and amoxicillin) for Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) eradication, noting factors that influence the outcome and documenting any adverse events.
METHODS: Following institutional ethical approval, fifty consecutive and consenting symptomatic patients with evidence of H. pylori infection by either a positive urea breath test (UBT) and/or a campylobacter-like organism test who presented to the Gastroenterology clinic of Lagos State University Teaching Hospital between 2012 and 2013 were recruited into the study. Patients were openly randomized to either a 7-d or a 10-d regimen of amoxicillin 1 g, clarithromycin 500 mg and rabeprazole 20 mg twice daily. The extent of symptom resolution was noted following the treatment, and at the end of one month after the completion of treatment, a repeat UBT was performed in each patient to document the eradication of the infection. All data (demographics, symptoms, and eradication rates) were collated and analyzed with SPSS version 18.
RESULTS: Forty-seven patients completed the study (three were excluded from the analysis for breaching the study protocol). The patients included 18 males and 29 females within the age range of 13-80 years (mean 43.7, SD 16.8). The clinical features of the study subjects were dyspepsia, reflux symptoms and features of gastrointestinal bleeding. The average eradication rate was 87.2%. Eighteen subjects were enrolled in the 7-d arm, while 29 were in the 10-d arm. There was no statistically significant difference in the age or sex distributions of the two arms. There was no significant advantage of the 10-d treatment duration over the 7-d duration (P = 0.78), and the eradication outcomes were not influenced by the gender or age of the subjects. No adverse effects were reported in either arm.
CONCLUSION: The triple therapy regime, employing a combination of amoxicillin, clarithromycin and rabeprazole, showed great efficacy and safety in the eradication of H. pylori, and this outcome was not influenced by gender or age. No difference was observed between the 7-d and 10-d regimens.
Core tip:Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is widespread in Nigeria, along with the associated risk of serious gastroduodenal diseases, including gastric cancer. The use of different eradication therapies for H. pylori is commonplace, as no consensus exists regarding the optimal treatment regimen, despite guidelines and recommendations. This lack of consensus is most likely due to the lack of evidence-based data, and the findings in this report may help to fill this gap.