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Aspirin and clopidogrel are antiplatelet drugs used to prevent thrombotic vascular events. However, both are associated with increased risk for bleeding from peptic ulcer disease (PUD). Aspirin induces peptic ulcers, and both drugs prevent their healing — aspirin through inhibiting mucosal prostaglandin generation and clopidogrel by decreasing platelet-related growth factors. Proton-pump inhibitor (PPI) treatment is effective for healing aspirin-associated PUD, but for patients requiring continued antiplatelet therapy, it is unclear whether the outcomes are different in patients taking clopidogrel versus aspirin.
To investigate this issue, researchers randomized 218 patients with aspirin-related, nonbleeding, symptomatic PUD to receive rabep…