If this is not your name, click here.
| | If this is not your name, click here. | | |
| | Contact Us | Order Now | Journals | Bookstore | Register a colleague | | |
| |  UEGW: 30-Minute Infusion of Esomeprazole 20 mg as Good as Oral Administration in Intragastric Acid Control By Adrian Burton MADRID, SPAIN -- November 6, 2003 -- An intravenous infusion of 20 mg esomeprazole can provide the same acid control as an oral 20 mg dose, a Swiss research group reported here November 4th at the 11th United European Gastroenterology Week. "Some patients may have [say] dysphagia and not be able to swallow solid medication," explained Clive Wilder-Smith, MD, of the gastrointestinal unit and GI physiology laboratory, Gastroenterology Group Practice, Bern, Switzerland. "Or they may be in hospital and may be receiving an infusion, and it's easier to give the drug that way. So it's always useful to have an intravenous alternative." Twenty-four healthy volunteers were enrolled in a randomised, two-way crossover study in which they received either a daily 20 mg dose of esomeprazole orally or a 30-minute intravenous infusion of 20 mg before breakfast for five days. A washout period of at least 13 days was allowed between the treatments. The subjects' intragastric pH was monitored every day using a bipolar glass microelectrode, and the time that pH was above 4 was recorded on days 1 and 5. The length of time pH is maintained above this threshold correlates well with oesophageal healing in reflux patients, explained Dr. Wilder-Smith. No significant differences were found between the two treatment formats. On day 1, the intravenous dose maintained intragastric pH above 4 for a mean of 7.3 hours, while the oral dose worked for 6.6 hours. On day 5, the same treatments produced results of 11.9 and 12.3 hours, respectively. "As expected, you initially see a much delayed effect with the oral dose; it takes longer to act. But then later on, you see a virtual imposition of the [results for both treatments], and on day 5 it's even closer," said Dr. Wilder-Smith. "The message is that here you have the choice to give esomeprazole 20 mg either orally or intravenously, and you get the same effect. It's often the case that when you swallow a drug you need more of it than if you give it intravenously; but due to the pharmacokinetics of this substance, you can actually give the same dose, and that makes it so easy [for doctors to remember]."
[Study title: Esomeprazole 20 mg Administered as a 30-Minute Infusion Provides a Similar Level of Acid Control as Oral Administration in Healthy Subjects. Abstract Tue-G-031]
|
