Publication:

Efficacy of oral nifedipine as a tocolytic agent

Background Preterm birth is defined as birth at less than 37 weeks period of gestation, is the most important single determinant of adverse infant outcome in terms of both survival and quality of life. The need for tocolysis in terms of safety and efficacy is necessary to decrease perinatal mortality and morbidity in preterm labour. This study was aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of nifedipine as a tocolytic for inhibiting uterine contraction in threatened preterm labour.

Methods It was a prospective, nonblinded, single centred, randomized control trial. This study included 100 cases of preterm labour admitted in department of obstetrics and gynaecology, KIMSH, Bangalore, who satisfied the inclusion and exclusion criteria and were administered with nifedipine tocolysis.

Results 100 cases of preterm were evaluated for the prolongation of pregnancy for more than 48 hours. Prolongation of pregnancy till term was observed in 88% of the cases administered with nifedipine tocolysis. The mean gestational age in each group was 32.58±1.95 weeks. Nifedipine had very few side effects, namely tachycardia and headache and no changes in fetal heart rate.

Conclusions In this study oral nifedipine was found to be efficacious in prolongation of pregnancy for more than 48 hours with the ease of oral administration and with minimal dose tocolytic effect was achieved. It had minimal maternal and neonatal side effects and eliminate the need for intensive maternal monitoring.