Proton pump inhibitor vs histamine 2 receptor antagonists for prophylaxis of stress ulcer in critically ill patients

Introduction: stress ulcer is one of the serious complications in critically ill patients admitted to intensive care unit and associated with increase in mortality rate among them, proton pump inhibitor and histamine 2 receptor antagonist have been widely used as stress ulcer prophylaxis (SUP) in critically ill patients, however its efficacy and safety remain unclear. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of SUP on clinical outcomes in critically ill patients. Aim of study: To compare between proton pump inhibitors and histamine 2 receptor antagonists in prevention of stress ulcer. Material and method: We do a single, blind, randomized trial on two hundred critically ill patients admitted to intensive care unit divided into two groups, group A took famotidine 40mg single daily enterally and group B took omeprazole 40mg single daily intravenously. Results: Statistically there is no difference in incidence of stress ulcer among the two group of patients with P value of 0.25. Conclusion: The use of histamine 2 receptor antagonist is equal to proton pump inhibitor in prevention of stress ulcer and associated with less side effect than proton pump inhibito