Pre-endoscopic intravenous proton pump inhibitors therapy for upper gastrointestinal bleeding: A prospective,multicentre study

Background/AimThe indiscriminate use of high-dose, proton pump inhibitor (PPI) infusion in non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) patients to reduce the rate of peptic ulcers with high-risk stigmata (HRS) has been questioned. We evaluated the prevalence of HRS on peptic ulcer and non-ulcer lesions in patients receiving or not receiving pre-endoscopic PPI therapy.MethodsData of consecutive UGIB patients observed in 50 Italian centres were analysed. The prevalence of both HRS on peptic ulcers and active bleeding on non-ulcer lesions between patients treated or not treated with PPI were compared. Multivariate analysis was performed.ResultsA total of 1,792 (69.8%) out of 2,566 patients received PPI therapy. Prevalence of HRS on ulcers was 51.8% and 53.4% (P = 0.58) in treated and not treated patients, respectively, and the rate of endoscopic therapy did not differ between groups. Prevalence of non-ulcer bleeding lesions was higher in patients treated than in those not treated with PPI (18.7% vs 10.6%; P = 0.023). At multivariate analysis, PPI therapy (OR: 1.16, 95% CI = 0.82–1.64; P = 0.4) was not an independent factor affecting HRS prevalence, which was inversely correlated with timing to endoscopy (OR: 0.85, 95% CI = 0.76–0.95; P = 0.005).ConclusionsOur data failed to detect a significant role of pre-endoscopic PPI therapy in decreasing prevalence of HRS and need for endoscopic treatment in bleeding patients with either peptic ulcer or non-ulcer lesions.