Efficacy of Low Dose Intravenous Proton Pump Inhibitor for Peptic Ulcer Bleeding

Background Current guidelines recommend an intravenous bolus dose of a proton pump inhibitor(PPI) followed by continuous PPI infusion after endoscopic therapy in patients with high‐risk peptic ulcer bleeding. However, intermittent PPI have not been inferior to continuous PPI infusion regimens in recent studies. Objective The aim of this study was to compare the effect of intermittent (40mg as a bolus injection daily for 72hours) versus continuous (40mg as a bolus injection followed by continuous infusion at 8mg/hr for 72hours) intravenous pantoprazole for prevention of bleeding after endoscopic therapy of peptic ulcer bleeding. Also, the same comparison was performed in high‐risk patients (Rockall scores ≥6). Methods This single center cross‐sectional study was conducted from january 2010 through december 2013. Patients who presented with overt or suspected upper gastrointestinal bleeding based on hematemesis and/or melena were eligible. These eligible patients were required to have a peptic ulcer with bleeding on emergency endoscopy performed within 24 hours after hospitalization. Exclusion criteria were refusal of endoscopy, gastrointestinal malignancy, Mallory‐Weiss syndrome, variceal bleeding, bleeding d/t endoscopic procedure, small bowel bleeding, serious medical disease, etc. Demographic and medical data were obtained from the patients' medical records. Current or past history of medical diagnosis and drug history were also recorded. Statistical analysis performed using SPSS 21.0 software.