Abstract
Treatments with bismuth-containing quadruple therapy (QT), sequential therapy (ST), or concomitant therapy (CT) have been proposed as empirical first-line regimens for Helicobacter pylori. We compared the efficacy and tolerability of 10 days bismuth-containing quadruple QT, 10 days ST, and 10 days CT with as first-line treatments for H. pylori in a randomized crossover study. The subjects were randomly divided into three groups. The first 130 patients were treated with rabeprazole, bismuth potassium citrate, metronidazole, and tetracycline for 10 days. The second 130 patients in the sequential group were treated with rabeprazole and amoxicillin for 5 days, and then rabeprazole, clarithromycin, and metronidazole for an additional 5 days. The last 130 patients in the concomitant group were treated with rabeprazole, amoxicillin, clarithromycin, and metronidazole for 10 days. H. pylori eradication was confirmed by urea breath test at 6 weeks. The primary outcome was eradication rates of first-line treatment by intention to treat and per protocol (PP) analyzes. There was no difference between the average ages and the male/female ratio of the groups. The PP analysis was performed on 121, 119, and 118 patients in the QT, ST, and CT groups, respectively. In the PP analysis, the successful eradication 94.2% (114/121), 95.0% (113/119), and 95.8% (113/118) the QT, ST, and CT groups, respectively. There was no significant difference among the three groups (p = 0.86). 10 days QT, ST, and CT are highly effective as empirical first-line therapies for H. pylori in the region with high clarithromycin resistance.