Pirenzepine in the treatment of gastric ulcer. A double-blind short-term clinical trial.

The effectiveness of pirenzepine in the treatment of gastric ulcer was assessed in a double-blind 6 weeks' clinical trial in comparison with placebo. After 2 weeks of treatment 1 patient in each group showed a complete healing of gastric ulcer. After 6 weeks of treatment 9 out of 10 patients in the pirenzepine group (90%) and 4 out of 10 patients in the placebo group (40%) healed (P less than 0.05). The relief of ulcer symptoms was significantly better in the pirenzepine group than in the placebo group. From the second week on, the pirenzepine-treated patients stopped taking antacid while placebo-treated patients went on taking it (P less than 0.02). The results of this study demonstrated that pirenzepine promotes gastric ulcer healing and induces a rapid regression of ulcer symptoms.