Lansoprazole vs. omeprazole for gastro-oesophageal reflux disease: a pH-metric comparison

Background: Lansoprazole and omeprazole are widely used proton pump inhibitors for the management of gastro-oesophageal reflux. Normalization of oesophageal acid exposure is an important goal in the management of complicated and atypical gastro-oesophageal reflux disease. Aim: To compare the efficacy of lansoprazole and omeprazole in the abolition of abnormal reflux as assessed by oesophageal pH monitoring. Methods: Seventy patients with complicated or atypical gastro-oesophageal reflux disease were randomly assigned to receive 30 mg lansoprazole or 20 mg omeprazole once daily. Three to four weeks after the start of treatment, patients underwent oesophageal pH monitoring while on therapy. If the results were still abnormal, the proton pump inhibitor dosage was doubled and 24-h pH-metry was repeated after 20-30 days. Results: Thirty-six patients were randomized to receive lansoprazole and 34 patients to receive omeprazole. Ten of the 36 (29%) patients treated with 30 mg lansoprazole once daily and 23 of the 34 (68%) patients treated with 20 mg omeprazole once daily had persistently abnormal reflux at oesophageal pH monitoring (P < 0.001). In all such cases, repeat pH monitoring after doubling the proton pump inhibitor dosage gave normal results. Conclusions: At the currently marketed dosages of lansoprazole and omeprazole, normalization of oesophageal acid exposure in patients is accomplished more easily with lansoprazole.