Systematic review and meta‐analysis: proton‐pump inhibitor treatment for ulcer bleeding reduces transfusion requirements and hospital stay – results from the Cochrane Collaboration

BACKGROUND: Proton-pump inhibitors reduce re-bleeding and surgical intervention, but not mortality, after ulcer bleeding. AIM: To examine the effects of proton-pump inhibitor treatment on transfusion requirements and length of hospital stay in patients with ulcer bleeding. METHODS: For the Cochrane Collaboration meta-analysis of randomized-controlled trials of proton-pump inhibitor therapy for ulcer bleeding, outcomes of transfusion requirements and hospital stay were summarized, respectively, as mean (+/-s.d.) units transfused and hospital days. We calculated weighted mean difference with 95% confidence interval. We also performed subgroup analyses according to geographical origin of the randomized-controlled trials. RESULTS: There was significant heterogeneity among randomized-controlled trials for either outcome. Overall, proton-pump inhibitor treatment marginally reduced transfusion requirements (WMD = -0.6 units; 95% CI: -1.1 to 0; P = 0.05) and length of hospitalization (WMD = -1.1 days; 95% CI: -1.5 to -0.7; P < 0.0001). Most of the randomized-controlled trials did not state precise criteria for administering blood transfusion and discharging patients, thereby limiting the strength of conclusions on the pooled effects. CONCLUSIONS: Proton-pump inhibitor treatment for ulcer bleeding produces small, but potentially important, reductions in transfusion requirements and length of hospitalization.