RESEARCH - Proton pump inhibitors linked to osteoporotic fractures

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Proton pump inhibitors linked to osteoporotic fractures

By Reuters Health

August 15, 2008

NEW YORK (Reuters Health), Aug 15 - Continuous exposure to proton pump

inhibitors (PPI) for five years nearly doubles the risk of

osteoporotic fractures, according to a report in the August 12 issue

of the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

The risk of hip fractures increases after 5 years of PPI, while the

risk for other types of fractures increases after 7 years, according

to the authors of the report. Short-term exposure to these popular

acid-suppressing drugs, by contrast, does not increase the risk.

Dr. E. Targownik and colleagues, from the University of Manitoba

in Winnipeg, Canada, used administrative claims data to compare PPI

use in 15,792 patients with osteoporotic fractures and in 47,289

matched controls. Subjects in the case group had sustained a fracture

of the hip, vertebra, or wrist between April 1996 and March 2004.

With 7 or more years of PPI use, the risk of osteoporotic fracture

increased by 1.92-fold. With 5 and 7 or more years of use, the odds of

a hip fracture rose by 1.62- and 4.55-fold, respectively.

" As with any medication, we recommend that PPIs be used only in

clinical situations where they are necessary and in which they have

been proven to be efficacious, " the authors emphasize.

Further studies are needed to better understand the mechanisms

involved in the association and to determine the role, if any, for

osteoprotective agents in patients on long-term PPI therapy, they add.

CMAJ 2008;179:319-326.

Last Updated: 2008-08-14 12:07:05 -0400 (Reuters Health)

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