Some hospitalized patients develop a serious complication called stress ulcers. The stress of surgery or a serious illness can lead to bleeding in the stomach and such ulcers can be life threatening. That is why physicians frequently try to prevent stress ulcers from developing by administering acid suppressing drugs. But over the last few years, doctors have reported an increased incidence in hospital-acquired pneumonias, especially in patients who needed breathing machines. Preliminary reports linked powerful acid-suppressing drugs called proton pump inhibitors with pneumonia.
Now a study shows that hospital patients given a proton pump inhibitor called Protonix were three times more likely to develop pneumonia than those given a weaker acid suppressing drug called ranitidine, also known as Zantac. Strong acid-suppressing drugs can permit bacteria to grow in the stomach and these bugs may be able to get to the lungs. Hospital acquired pneumonia prolongs hospital stays and can be fatal. The researchers encourage their colleagues to use drugs like ranitidine rather than a proton pump inhibitor and eliminate the acid suppressors as soon as possible to reduce the risk of infection.
[Chest, August, 2009]
http://www.chestjournal.org/content/136/2/440.abstract
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