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Conventional nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are associated with high risk for peptic ulcer complications. The incidence of ulcers and related complications can be lowered with cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors (coxibs) or gastroprotective cotherapy. Multiple large, randomized, controlled trials have demonstrated the efficacy of both these approaches, but little information is available on effectiveness in actual practice.
To address this issue, investigators conducted a retrospective analysis using the Tennessee Medicaid database. For the period 1996 through 2004, they identified 234,010 patients with new prescriptions for conventional NSAIDs and 48,710 patients with new prescriptions for coxibs. A total of 1223 peptic ulcer hospita…