Background: Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a common disorder, and is typically treated with proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs) as the recommended first-line therapy. Recently, a new potassium-competitive acid blocker, vonoprazan, was launched in Japan. It is uncertain whether the standard dose of vonoprazan 20 mg is superior to that of PPIs for GERD, so a direct comparison of the therapeutic effects and adverse events between vonoprazan 20 mg and PPIs is needed.
Methods: MEDLINE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Embase were chosen as the literature sources. Randomized controlled trials for vonoprazan 20 mg and PPIs published in English were searched. Data from studies meeting the eligibility criteria were extracted individually by two researchers and compared to maintain consistency.
Results: Fifty-six articles were identified in the databases, and one study was manually searched and added to the analysis, ultimately yielding six eligible studies. For the main analysis, the risk ratios (RR) of efficacy and adverse events between vonoprazan and PPIs were 1.06 (0.99-1.13) and 1.08 (0.96-1.22), respectively. Subgroup analysis for patients with severe esophagitis at baseline showed significantly higher results for vonoprazan than lansoprazole, with an RR of 1.14 (1.06-1.22).
Conclusions: Our findings suggest that vonoprazan is non-inferior to PPIs as therapy for patients with GERD. Subgroup analysis indicates that vonoprazan is more effective than PPIs for patients with severe erosive esophagitis. The safety outcomes for vonoprazan are similar to those for PPIs.
Keywords: Gastroesophageal reflux disease; Meta-analysis; Proton-pump inhibitors; Vonoprazan.