Ranitidine maintenance treatment of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug-induced duodenal ulceration.

Fifty-six patients who presented with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug-associated duodenal ulcers received maintenance treatment with ranitidine. Forty-eight of these patients stopped treatment with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. The cumulative symptomatic remission at the end of 5 years of maintenance treatment was 97.7%. While half the patients had presented with haemorrhage from the ulcer, only one patient bled during maintenance treatment, giving a cumulative risk of 2.3% in 5 years of maintenance treatment. We conclude that maintenance treatment with ranitidine effectively and safely keeps patients with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug-associated ulcers symptom- and risk-free.