Ranitidine Versus Ranitidine plus Octreotide in the Treatment of Acute Non-variceal Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding: A Prospective Randomised Study

SummaryAim: To compare the efficacy of ranitidine with that of ranitidine plus octreotide in the treatment of non-variceal upper gastrointestinal (UGI) bleeding. Design: Prospective, randomised, open study. Patients and Methods: Upper GI endoscopy was carried out during the first 24 hours in all patients with UGI bleeding who had been admitted within a period of 18 months. Patients with variceal bleeding, and those who had undergone any type of gastric operation, were excluded. Eighty-four patients (58 men and 26 women) aged 21–92 years (mean age: 61.2 ± 15.0 SD) were included. Patients were randomised to receive ranitidine 50 mg tid intravenously alone (Group A: 44 patients, 29 men), or in combination with octreotide 100 µg tid subcutaneously, the second drug given for three days only (Group B: 40 patients, 29 men). The study end-points were discharge without operation, emergency surgical intervention or death. The number of blood units given and the days of hospitalisation were also recorded.Results: As...