Success of Step-Down PPI Therapy in GERD Patients on Multiple Doses

Although proton-pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy is extremely effective for treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), standard once-daily dosing is inadequate in 20% to 30% of . . .

Although proton-pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy is extremely effective for treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), standard once-daily dosing is inadequate in 20% to 30% of patients. Accordingly, the expense of this type of therapy rises incrementally with multiple dosing. Researchers assessed the feasibility of stepping down PPI therapy to once-daily dosing in 117 Veterans Affairs patients (mean age, 65) who attended a heartburn clinic and who had achieved control of GERD symptoms with multiple-dose PPI therapy.

Patients were stepped down to single-dose PPI therapy (30-mg lansoprazole or 20-mg omeprazole daily). At 6 months, 93 patients (79.5%) did not report recurrent symptoms while taking the reduced dose. In subgroup analysis, …

Reviewing Author

David A. Johnson, MD