Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) compared with placebo and histamine receptor antagonists (H2RAs) for reducing the incidence of rebleeding, surgery, and death in acute gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB) associated with peptic ulcer disease.
Data sources: A systematic search of the English-language literature was performed using MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Pre-MEDLINE (from 1966 to September 2000) and a manual search of references.
Study selection: Randomized, controlled trials evaluating any PPI for acute GIB in adults with the end points of rebleeding, surgery of death.
Data synthesis: Nine trials (1829 pts.) were included. The relative odds of rebleeding indicated a 50% reduction in the PPI-treated group (OR 0.50, 95% CI 0.33 to 0.77; p = 0.002, NNTB 9; 95% CI NNTB 6 to 13). The relative odds of surgery indicated a 53% reduction in the PPI-treated group (OR 0.47, 95% CI 0.29 to 0.77; p = 0.003; NNTB 17, 95% CI 12 to 35). The relative odds for mortality indicated a nonsignificant 8% decrease in the odds of death in the PPI-treated group (OR 0.92, 95% CI 0.46 to 1.83, p = 0.81; NNTB 323, 95% CI NNTB 47 to infinity to NNTH 33).
Conclusions: PPIs are superior to H2RAs and placebo in preventing rebleeding and the need for surgery in patients with GIB, although they do not appear to reduce mortality.