ABSTRACT

Aim: To determine the efficacy of Magnesium sulfate and Nifedipine in preterm labour management and compare safety of both by finding frequency of their side effects.

Study design: Randomized control trial.

Place and duration: Mother and Child Health Unit II, Pakistan Institute of Medical sciences Islamabad, from 1st January 2011 to 31st December 2011.

Methodology: The sixty patients with confirmed diagnosis of preterm labor were randomly allocated to Group A (Magnesium Sulfate (MgSO4)) and Group B (Nifedipine). The primary outcome measure was efficacy meaning more time duration gained in number of hours (days) till delivery secondary outcomes was safety assessed by less side effects.

Results: Maternal demographic features were similar in both groups. Average time gained in delaying delivery by nifedipine was more than magnesium sulphate (6.2 vs. 5.8 days) with p value of 0.04, signifying its better efficacy. Regarding safety, manypatients complained of multiple side effects in MgSO4 group such as burning at injection site in 18(60%), dry mouth 17(56.6%) and headache in 16(53.3%) patients but flushing was most common, occurred in 20(80%) patient. Many patients felt dizziness, sweating and nausea, 9(30%), 6(20%) and 5(16.6%) respectively. Majority of patients were free of side effects in nifedipine group but headache was felt in 18(60%) ,tachycardia occurred in 12(40%)followed by hypotension in 8(26.6%) patients.Only 2(6.6%) patients had nausea. Flushing and dizziness were experienced only by 1, 1 (3.3%) patients

Conclusion: Nifedipine was better in efficacy and safety than MgSO4 and caused less side effects

Keywords: Nifedipine, Magnesium sulphate, Preterm labour, Tocolytic therapy, Management,