COMPARISON OF INTRAVENOUS FAMOTIDINE AND RANITIDINE IN SUPPRESSING GASTRIC ACID SECRETION IN CRITICALLY ILL PATIENTS

Abstract Histamine 2 (H 2 )-receptor antagonists are administered to raise gastric pH levels and have been found to reduce the risk of stress ulceration and gastrointestinal bleeding in patients admitted to intensive care units. This study compared the efficacy of famotidine to ranitidine in raising gastric pH above 4.00 in critically ill patients. Thirty-two patients were randomly assigned to receive intravenous bolus doses of either famotidine 20 mg every 12 hours (n = 16) or ranitidine 50 mg every 8 hours (n = 16) for a minimum of 3 days and a maximum of 7 days, depending on when the nasogastric tube was removed from the patient. Gastric fluid was aspirated before the start of treatment (baseline) and six times during each 24-hour period; pH was measured using a pH meter. Baseline pH (mean ± SD) was 1.87 ± 0.42 for the famotidine group and 1.71 ± 0.31 for the ranitidine group ( P > 0.05). Famotidine elevated gastric pH to higher levels than ranitidine, reaching statistical significance ( P