Humaira Aziz, Sidrah Batool, Khiaynat Sarwar Hashmi.
Comparison of Efficacy of Magnesium Sulphate versus Nifedipine for Tocolysis of Preterm Labour.
Pak J Med Health Sci Jan ;12(4):1669-72.

Aim: To compare the efficacy of magnesium sulfate versus nifedipine for tocolysis of preterm labour. Methods: This randomized controlled trial study was carried out at the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Bahawal Victoria Hospital, Bahawalpur from 1st January 2018 to 30 June 2018. A total of 182 patients of preterm labour, 16 to 35 years of age with singleton pregnancy of gestational age between 28 to 36 weeks (assessed on LMP) were included in the study. Patients with severe pre-eclampsia, diabetes mellitus, history of renal and heart diseases, severe intra-uterine growth retardation (IUGR ), fetal distress and antepartum hemorrhage, cervix >4cm dilated, rupture of membranes, congenital fetal malformations, chorioamnionitis and multiple pregn ancy were excluded. The nominated patients were randomly placed into two groups i.e. Group A (magnesium sulfate) & Group B (oral nifedipine), by using lottery method. Outcome variables like cessation of uterine contractions till 48 hours (efficacy) were noted for successful or unsuccessful outcome. Results : The average age of women in group A was 24.66+/-4. 35 and in group B was 23.98+/-4.05 years (p<0.05). The mean gestational age in group A was 32.65+/-3.71 weeks and in group B was 33.21+/-3.31 weeks (p<0.05).There was cessation of uterine contractions in 81 (89.01%) and no cessation in 10 (10.99%) patients in Group A while in Group B, it was seen in 68 (74.73%) and 23 (25.27%) patients respectively. So, efficacy was 89.01% in group A (magnesium sulfate) and 74.73% in group B (oral nifedipine) with p-value of 0.0124. Conclusion: Magnesium sulfate has higher efficacy i.e. 89.1% for acute tocolysis of preterm labour as compared to oral nifedipine and should be used as first line drug to treat preterm labour.

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