Antacid and placebo produced similar pain relief in duodenal ulcer patients.

The effectiveness of antacid and placebo in relieving single episodes of spontaneous duodenal ulcer pain were compared in two double blind, controlled, randomized trials. The trials compared the effects on ulcer pain of individual doses of a liquid antacid and placebo, rather than the effects of therapeutic regimens with antacid or placebo. Thirty patients were studied. There were no significant differences between antacid and placebo in time to onset, degree, or duration of pain relief. These results suggest that factors other than gastric acid neutralization are important in acute relief of spontaneous duodenal ulcer pain.