A 1-h topical therapy for the treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection.

OBJECTIVE: A novel topical therapeutic methodology for the treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection was developed and studied in 25 patients with H. pylori to evaluate safety and efficacy.
METHODS: The patients had been given lansoprazole (30 mg, hs) orally and pronase (18,000 tyrosine units, b.i.d.) for the 2 days before topical therapy. One hundred milliliters of solution with 80 ml of 7% sodium bicarbonate and 20 ml of contrast medium meglumine sodium amidotrizoate containing bismuth subnitrate (1 g), amoxicillin (2 g), metronidazole (1 g), and pronase (36,000 tyrosine units) were instilled into the stomach through a nasally introduced 16-Fr intestinal tube with a balloon at its radiopaque tip, which was inflated with approximately 25 ml of air and lodged postbulbarly at the superior duodenal angle under fluoroscopy, thus preventing leakage of the solution distally into the jejunum. The solution was kept in the stomach for 1 h, and the patient's position was changed every 15 min from the sitting to the supine, prone, and right lateral position to expose the entire gastric mucosa. The solution was suctioned at the end of the procedure.
RESULTS: H. pylori infection was successfully cured in 24 (96%) patients, confirmed 4 wk after the therapeutic procedure by negative smear, culture, and histology of the antral and corpus biopsy specimens. No side effects were observed except for loose stools in one case.
CONCLUSION: This 1-h topical therapy is a safe, effective, and well tolerated procedure for the treatment of H. pylori infection. With further improvements and modifications of the method itself, as well as of the drug regimens, this method may become a highly efficient modality for anti-H. pylori therapy.