"Test and treat" significantly improves dyspepsia

Although the "test for H pylori and treat" strategy has been recommended for uninvestigated dyspepsia in patients under 50 who do not have alarm symptoms, no previous randomised controlled trials have actually shown an improvement in symptoms. Chiba and colleagues (p 1012) performed a controlled trial on 294 patients positive for H pylori, who were randomised to receive antibiotics and omeprazole or placebos and omeprazole for one week. They found that eradication therapy improved overall dyspepsia symptoms at 12 month follow up, supporting, they say, the strategy of "test and treat."

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Relevant Article

Treating Helicobacter pylori infection in primary care patients with uninvestigated dyspepsia: the Canadian adult dyspepsia empiric treatmentHelicobacter pylori positive (CADET-Hp) randomised controlled trial

Naoki Chiba, Sander J O Veldhuyzen van Zanten, Paul Sinclair, Ralph A Ferguson, Sergio Escobedo, and Eileen Grace
BMJ 2002 324: 1012. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]