Background: There are many reports that evaluate the efficacy of the combination of omeprazole, amoxicillin and clarithromycin in the eradication of Helicobacter pylori, but data about effectivity in clinical practice are sparse. The goal of our study is to evaluate the effectivity in the clinical setting of this combination with diverse durations and doses.
Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of 187 patients (128 male and 59 female), with an endoscopic diagnosis of duodenal ulcer (156), gastric ulcer (25) and both (6) with Helicobacter pylori infection as defined by both: a positive ureasa test and histology. After diagnosis the patient were treated with one of three combinations: a) omeprazole: 20 mg/12 h + amoxicillin: 1 g/12 h + clarithromycin: 500 mg/12 h, during 6 days (n = 60); b) omeprazole: 20 mg/12 h + amoxicillin: 1 g/12 h + clarithromycin: 500 mg/12 h, during 7 days (n = 74), and c) omeprazole: 20 mg/12 h + amoxicillin: 1 g/8 h + clarithromycin: 500 mg/8 h, during 7 days (n = 53). After the 6 or 7 day treatment period the patients did not receive any further treatment until a follow-up control unit. Eradication was evaluated with one of two tests: endoscopy (with ureasa test and at least 4 histologic samples) (n = 90) or urea breath test according to european protocol (n = 97).
Results: No patient dropped out because of side effects and compliance was above 80% in all cases. The global eradication rate was 87.2% (CI 95%: 82.4-92%). According to treatment the rate were respectively 80% (CI 95%: 67.7-89.2%) with scheme A; 89.2% (CI 95%: 79.8-95.2%) with scheme B, and 92.5% (CI 95%: 81.8-97.9%) with scheme C, with no statistically significant differences among groups. Difference between schemes and C, however, was almost reached (p = 0.053).
Conclusions: The combination of omeprazole, amoxicillin and clarithromycin at standard doses (scheme B) is effective in clinical practice. Higher dose of amoxicillin and clarithromycin does not improve the results, and shorter duration of therapy associated with lower, although not significant rate of eradication.