Two daily doses of sucralfate or cimetidine in the healing of gastric ulcer

A double-blind, randomized study compared the healing of gastric ulcer during a twice-daily regiment of 2 g sucralfate or 400 mg cimetidine. The patients received the tablets one-half hour before breakfast and one-half hour before bedtime. The study included 76 patients with endoscopically proven gastric ulcer. Patients with ulcers less than 3 cm from the pyloric ring and patients with ulcers less than 3 mm in diameter were excluded from the study. Sixty-four patients completed the study. Healing was endoscopically assessed at four-week intervals for 12 weeks. After four, eight, and 12 weeks, the healing rates for cimetidine were 55, 81, and 94 percent, respectively; the healing rates for sucralfate were 52, 79, and 91 percent, respectively. No statistically significant difference was found between the two regimens. At 12 weeks, the risk of overlooking a difference in favor of one of the two dosage regimens was less than 20 percent. The results suggest that 2 g sucralfate twice daily is as effective in the healing of gastric ulcer as 400 mg cimetidine twice daily.