Background: Reverse hybrid therapy is a simplified hybrid treatment for Helicobacter pylori infection. It achieves a higher eradication rate than standard triple therapy. This study aimed to compare the efficacies of reverse hybrid and hybrid therapies in the treatment of H. pylori infection.
Methods: From September 2008 to September 2017, 490 H. pylori-infected patients who received 14 days of reverse hybrid therapy (proton pump inhibitor plus amoxicillin for 14 days and clarithromycin plus metronidazole for the initial 7 days; n = 252) or hybrid therapy (proton pump inhibitor plus amoxicillin for 14 days and clarithromycin plus metronidazole for the final 7 days; n = 238) were included in this retrospective cohort study. Helicobacter pylori status was examined 6-8 weeks after therapy.
Results: The eradication rates of the reverse hybrid and hybrid therapies by modified intention-to-treat analysis were comparable (96.4% vs 96.6%; p = 0.899). There were no differences in the efficacy of eradication between therapies for clarithromycin-resistant strains (87.0% vs 90.0%) or metronidazole-resistant strains (97.7% vs 100.0%). In addition, there were comparable frequencies of adverse events for both treatments (18.7% vs 13.0%) and treatment adherence (94.4% vs 97.1%).
Conclusion: Reverse hybrid therapy can achieve a similar eradication rate to hybrid therapy for H. pylori infection.