Comparative Study of Cimetidine and Trimipramine in the Short-Term Treatment of Duodenal and Gastric Ulcer

Abstract

Sixty-nine outpatients with endoscopically confirmed duodenal and prepyloric (DU) or gastric ulcers (GU) completed a 4-week double-blind trial with either cimetidine, 1 g/day, or trimipramine, 50 mg/day. Ulcer healing was assessed by endoscopy at 4 weeks. At the end of the study 14 of 23 patients with DU treated with cimetidine and 13 of 25 treated with trimipramine had healed ulcers. In the patients with GU 7 of 11 ulcers (cimetidine) and 4 of 10 (trimipramine) healed. The differences in healing rates between the two treatment groups were not statistically significant, either in DU and GU groups separately or in the total material. The number of pain attacks per week decreased and the symptoms improved significantly in both treatment groups in DU, GU, and totally. Both drugs were well tolerated, but two patients in each treatment group developed a slight increase in serum transaminases. No serious side effects occurred. The study suggests trimipramine as an alternative drug to the well-established drug cimetidine in the treatment of duodenal and possibly also of gastric ulcer.