Terlipressin vs. somatostatin in bleeding esophageal varices: a controlled, double-blind study

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Somatostatin and Terlipressin in this randomized controlled trial publication.

Standard therapy with transfusions, fluid and electrolyte correction and lactulose was administered in both groups.

Two of the three bleeding episodes not arrested by terlipressin and five of the six bleeding episodes not arrested by somatostatin were controlled by balloon tamponade.

Who Took Part

According to the abstract, 33 patients were involved.

PubMed indexes the participants as adults, middle-aged adults and older adults, both men and women.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled.

Because people in this Somatostatin study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

Neither the patients nor the staff measuring them knew who was on Somatostatin, so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

The comparison arm used a placebo, so changes seen with Somatostatin could be set against what happens without it.

What Was Measured

PubMed files the paper under topics including Acute Disease, Balloon Occlusion, Catheterization, Cause of Death, Combined Modality Therapy, Esophageal and Gastric Varices and Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Somatostatin and Terlipressin in 33 patients.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

The publication is from 1992 (Hepatology (Baltimore, Md.)), a journal based in United States.

More context: the Somatostatin compound page and the Terlipressin compound page.