A comparison of oral omeprazole and intravenous cimetidine in reducing complications of duodenal peptic ulcer

BACKGROUND: Gastrointestinal bleeding is a common problem and its most common etiology is peptic ulcer disease. Ulcer rebleeding is considered a perilous complication for patients. To reduce the rate of rebleeding and to fasten the improvement of patients' general conditions, most emergency departments in Iran use H2-blockers before endoscopic procedures (i.e. intravenous omeprazole is not available in Iran). The aim of this study was to compare therapeutic effects of oral omeprazole and intravenous cimetidine on reducing rebleeding rates, duration of hospitalization, and the need for blood transfusion in duodenal ulcer patients. METHODS: In this clinical trial, 80 patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding due to duodenal peptic ulcer and endoscopic evidence of rebleeding referring to emergency departments of Imam and Sina hospitals in Tabriz, Iran were randomly assigned to two equal groups; one was treated with intravenous cimetidine 800 mg per day and the other, with 40 mg oral omeprazole per day. RESULTS: No statistically significant difference was found between cimetidine and omeprazole groups in regards to sex, age, alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking, NSAID consumption, endoscopic evidence of rebleeding, mean hemoglobin and mean BUN levels on admission, duration of hospitalization and the mean time of rebleeding. However, the need for blood transfusion was much lower in omeprazole than in cimetidine group (mean: 1.68 versus 3.58 units, respectively; p < 0.003). Moreover, rebleeding rate was significantly lower in omeprazole group (15%) than in cimetidine group (50%) (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that oral omeprazole significantly excels intravenous cimetidine in reducing the need for blood transfusion and lowering rebleeding rates in patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Though not statistically significant (p = 0.074), shorter periods of hospitalization were found for omeprazole group which merits consideration for cost minimization

Motivational Factors Affecting the Educational Performance of Faculty Members

Introduction: Knowledge of Faculty members’ views about factors affecting occupational motivation is helpful in creating occupational motivation for predicting and interpreting their behavior. The purpose of this study was to assess the motivational factors affecting the educational performance of faculty members of Semnan University of Medical Sciences from their own perspective. Methods: In this descriptive, cross-sectional study, 145 of the faculty members of Semnan University of Medical Sciences were selected by simple random sampling in order to identify the factors affecting occupational motivation. Data collection tool was a researcher-made 20-item questionnaire on a 5-point Likert scale. It was designed based on Herzberg’s two-factor theory and its content validity and reliability were confirmed through test-retest. Data were analyzed using chi-square and Fisher’s exact tests. Results: According to the faculty members’ views, the external factor “being respected in the workplace” with the mean score of 3.48±0.98 and the internal factor “intrinsic interest in teaching” with the mean score of 4.57±0.61 were the most important factors respectively. Conclusion: Results showed that in general, both internal and external motivational factors were effective in the performance of faculty members. Therefore, to improve their performance, managers should provide necessary tools to increase faculty members’ motivation

CONSORT flow chart of the clinical trial comparing oral omeprazole and intravenous cimetidine in reducing complications of duodenal peptic ulcer in 80 Iranian patients

<p><b>Copyright information:</b></p><p>Taken from "A comparison of oral omeprazole and intravenous cimetidine in reducing complications of duodenal peptic ulcer"</p><p>BMC Gastroenterology 2006;6():2-2.</p><p>Published online 11 Jan 2006</p><p>PMCID:PMC1360671.</p><p>Copyright © 2006 Khoshbaten et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.</p