Upper Gastrointestinal Tract of Critically Ill Patients

tive study, Ojiako et al conclude that famotidine and pantoprazole are similarly effective for prevent-ing bleeding in the upper gastrointestinal tract in patients receiving mechanical ventilation. Several points need to be discussed. This study was retrospective and had different sample sizes in the 2 groups (522 for famotidine and 95 for pan-toprazole). Is it possible that doctors used panto-prazole for those cases that were more severe? This selective use could perhaps be a contributing factor to the greater number of bleeding patients in the pantoprazole group. The dose and route of pantoprazole may not have been sufficient to prevent bleeding in this study. A stable blood clot in a peptic ulcer is crucia