The majority of patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding due to peptic ulcers stop bleeding spontaneously. The remainder of patients who have persistent or recurrent bleeding will require surgicaJ or endoscopic intervention. Medical therapy provides an attractive alternative to these two treatment options. The advent of H2 antagonists in the mid 19705 revolutionized the treatment of peptic ulcer disease as it provided good ulcer healing with a treatm.ent course of 6-8 weeks. A more potent acid suppressingdassof drugs: the proton-pump inhibitors (PPJ's) were introduced in the late 19805 and provided even better and faster ulcer healing. It was natural that the acid suppressing drugs were also used for the treatment of ulcer bleeding. Intravenous H2 antagonist and more recently intravenous PPJ's have routinely been prescribed in many hospitals as soon itS a bleeding patient is admitted. Critical evaluation of the literature shows, however, that H2 antagonists are no more effective than placebo in stopping ulcer bleeding. The prJ's, on the other hand, have been shown in several clinical studies to have a beneficial effect. The action of acid suppression in stopping ulcer bleeding is believed to be due to its effect in the stabilization of an ulcer clot by providing a high pH milieu and to commence the process of ulcer healing. KEYWORDS: Upper gastrointestinal bleed(UGIB), proton pump inhibitors(PPls), H2 antagonists