2.1. Study Design
This prospective, double-blind, randomized, actively controlled study was conducted at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital in South Korea from July 2020 to September 2021. This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Seoul National University Bundang Hospital. Informed consent was obtained from all patients. All participants and clinicians were blinded to the settings, which consisted of week 0 (visit one, screening visit), week 4 (visit two, by telephone), and week 8 (visit three, end of study) visits. Participants who met the inclusion criteria were randomized into one of two treatment groups at a 1:1 ratio: celecoxib monotherapy (control group, 200 mg twice daily) or combination therapy with aceclofenac and ilaprazole (test group, aceclofenac 100 mg twice daily, ilaprazole 10 mg once daily). Web-based randomization was employed to achieve concealed allocation. All participants were evaluated for drug efficacy and safety over the 8-week study period.