Loading...
Patients being treated with low-dose aspirin to prevent thromboembolic events are at elevated risk for developing gastroduodenal ulcers and upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Aside from proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs), options for mitigating this risk are lacking. Might famotidine, a histamine-2–receptor antagonist that lowers risk for peptic ulcers caused by conventional nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, also lower risk for gastroduodenal ulcers in patients receiving low-dose aspirin?
To find out, investigators in the U.K. performed a phase III, manufacturer-sponsored, randomized, double-blind, single-center trial involving 404 patients receiving low-dose aspirin (75–325 mg daily) who had no preexisting mucosal lesions at baseline. Patients…