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| |  Naproxen Use Increases Rick of Ulcer Complications Among Chronic Users: Presented at EULAR By Ed Susman ROME -- June 20, 2010 -- Chronic use of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) naproxen is associated with a significant risk of hospitalisation for serious upper gastrointestinal (GI) tract toxicity, researchers said here at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR). "Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are the mainstay of treatment for pain associated with arthritis, but their chronic use has been associated with a well-established risk of cardiovascular and gastrointestinal toxicity," said Gurkirpal Singh, MD, Stanford University, Stanford, California, during a poster presentation on June 17. Dr. Singh and colleagues pored over the massive MediCal database in their retrospective analysis aimed at determining the prevalence of hospitalisations for gastroduodenal ulcer complications in patients treated with varying doses of naproxen in everyday clinical practice. The database identified 668,424 patients of whom 11,303 were hospitalised due to complicated gastric or duodenal ulcer. They were matched with 45,212 controls. The mean age of the patients in the study was 70.7 years and about 35% were male. The researchers determined that treatment with naproxen increased the risk of patients of having an ulcer complication in a dose-dependent manner. When compared with controls, patients taking naproxen 500 mg/day had a relative risk increase of 2.51 of requiring hospitalisation. Patients taking 750 mg/day had a relative risk increase of 2.95 of requiring hospitalisation, and patients taking naproxen 1,000 mg/day had a relative risk increase of 3.13 of requiring hospitalisation. All rate ratios were statistically significant (P < .0001). He said that information on the risk of upper GI complications with different doses of naproxen is essential to guide clinicians on the need for gastroprotection when prescribing various doses of naproxen. "Gastroprotective therapy should be considered for at-risk patients," Dr. Singh said, "regardless of naproxen dose used, to protect against complicated gastric and duodenal ulcers." Funding for this study was provided in part by AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals. [Presentation title: Naproxen Use Increases the Risk for Complicated Gastroduodenal Ulcers in a Dose-Dependent Manner. Abstract THU0443]
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