Salma Jabeen, Musrat Akhtar, Naheed Fatima, Muhammad Akram.
Role of progesterone for the prevention of preterm labour.
Pak J Med Health Sci Jan ;6(1):253-5.

Objective: To access the benefits of progesterone administration for the prevention of preterm birth in women and their infants. Study design: Randomized controlled trial Place & duration of study: The study was conducted in the department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology Unit-I, at Bahawal Victoria Hospital, Bahawalpur from 01-11-2011 to 31-12-2011. Material & methods: We conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. A total of 60 women with the history of previous spontaneous preterm birth were included in the study. Women were enrolled at Antenatal outdoor department of Bahawal Victoria Hospital, Bahawalpur at 16 to 20 weeks of gestation and randomly assigned to receive either weekly injections of 250mg of 17P(progesterone) or weekly injections of an inert oil placebo; injections were continued until delivery or to 36 weeks of gestation. The primary outcome was preterm delivery before 37 weeks of gestation & fetal outcome. Results: Base-line characteristics of the women in the progesterone group and the placebo group were similar. Treatment with 17 Progesterone significantly reduced the risk of delivery at less than 37 weeks of gestation with incidence 11(36.6%) in the progesterone group vs. 83.3 % (25 patients) in the placebo group. Infants of women treated with progesterone also had improved outcome as compare to the placebo group but the difference was not statistically significant. Conclusion: For women with a history of spontaneous preterm birth, progesterone was associated with a significant reduction in preterm birth before 37 weeks& improve fetal outcome.

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