Intravenous Administration of Pantoprazole

Objective and design: The use of proton pump inhibitors in acid-related diseases such as peptic ulcer or erosive reflux oesophagitis is well established. The aim of the current nationwide, multicentre Austrian study was to investigate systematically the intravenous administration of pantoprazole. The study objectives were to collect and evaluate representative data on the intravenous administration of pantoprazole under practical hospital conditions. Patients and methods: 344 patients were enrolled in 44 centres. Diagnoses were based on endoscopy in 82% of patients, x-ray in 5%, and in the remaining patients on clinical signs and symptoms. Gastrointestinal bleeding was documented in 48 (14%), gastric ulcer in 96 (28%), duodenal ulcer in 96 (28%), erosive reflux oesophagitis in 86 (25%), and other gastroenterological diseases in 96 (28%) of the patients (multiple diagnoses included). Subsequent to the diagnostic procedure, pantoprazole 40mg once daily was administered intravenously for a mean of 4 days. Administration of intravenous pantoprazole was followed by dose-equivalent oral pantoprazole (40mg once daily) for 5 days. Results: The efficacy of pantoprazole was judged excellent or good in 96% of patients, and the corresponding overall tolerability rating was 89%. The overall clinical impression rating showed complete remission in 33% of the patients, marked improvement in 62%, borderline improvement in 2%, and no changes in 2%. Only one patient showed clinical deterioration. Conclusion: Based on these data, we concluded that pantoprazole is a highly efficient and very well tolerated drug in patients with acid-related diseases, independent of the route of administration. In this study on intravenous administration, no short-term problems with regard to efficacy or tolerability were observed when patients were switched from intravenous to oral pantoprazole therapy.