Powell K U, Bell G D, Bolton G H, Burridge S M, Bowden A F, Rameh B, Hart L, Bradley P, Harrison G, Gant P W
Department of Medicine, Ipswich Hospital, UK.
Q J Med. 1994 May;87(5):283-90.
We assessed clinical consequences and financial implications of Helicobacter pylori eradication in 175 patients with peptic ulceration, of whom 106 had been free from H. pylori infection for a mean of 3.2 years, while 69 remained infected. We used quarterly questionnaires to examine consumption of ulcer-healing medication and antacids. In the 106 successfully treated patients, gastrointestinal haemorrhage as a complication of peptic ulcer complications during the 344 patient years after eradication (0.003 per patient year) was 18-fold lower than during the 912 patient years before eradication (0.056 per patient year). Of the H. pylori-negative patients, 12-18% used ulcer-healing medication during any one of the three-month periods of the survey, compared with 34-51% of the patients with residual H. pylori infection. The average cost of the ulcer-healing drugs consumed by the H. pylori-negative patients was 30.59 pounds during the 12 months of the survey, compared with 99.05 pounds for H. pylori-positive patients. Consumption of antacids was also lower in the H. pylori-negative group. Successful eradication of H. pylori significantly reduced the annual cost of ulcer-healing drugs consumed by the patients with ulcer disease. Maintenance of ulcer remission following successful eradication of H. pylori also significantly reduced ulcer complications.
