Sirgo and colleagues conducted a retrospective review of twenty one trials of ranitidine in acid peptic diseases to compare the adverse events in elderly patients – those aged 65 years of age and over – and nonelderly (< 65 years) patients. The dosage of ranitidine varied from from 150 mg/day to 300 mg twice a day for treatment duration ranging from 4 to 52 weeks.

A total of 4041 patients were included in this review - 402 elderly and 2188 nonelderly patients received ranitidine and 245 elderly and 1206 nonelderly patients were given placebo. Some type of adverse event was reported by 29%, 29%, 32%, and 26%, of the patients, respectively. Considering only drug-related adverse events (determined by the investigators under blinded conditions), the corresponding figures declined to 2%, 2%, and 1% and 2%, respectively.

The most common adverse events included gastrointestinal effects, such as nausea and diarrhea, and central nervous system effects, such as headache and dizziness (0.7% and 0.8%, respectively). The incidence rates were comparable in the elderly and nonelderly patients.

It was concluded that ranitidine is as safe in the elderly patients as in nonelderly patients.

There were no differences in the incidence of adverse events between the older and younger patients receiving ranitidine or placebo.

Source: Sirgo MA, Mills R, Euler AR, Walker S. The safety of ranitidine in elderly versus non-elderly patients. J Clin Pharmacol. 1993 Jan;33(1):79-83.