[Treatment of stomach ulcer with bismuth subnitrate, oxytetracycline and metronidazole].

60 patients with recurrent duodenal ulcers were treated with bismuth subnitrate, oxytetracycline and metronidazole. Helicobacter pylori status was assessed before and after treatment by means of the 14C-urea breath test. All patients were helicobacter positive before treatment. Four weeks after cessation of therapy H pylori had been eradicated in 57 out of 60 patients (95%). The ulcer healing rate was 100% after six weeks. 43% of the patients complained of moderate to severe side effects, mainly nausea and diarrhoea, but no patients discontinued the treatment prematurely. The study indicates that nearly all patients with recurrent duodenal ulcer are infected with H pylori, and that the present triple treatment regimen is very effective both in eradicating H pylori and in healing the ulcer.