Tayaba Mazhar, Shahzad Rauf, Asma Ambareen, Shahnaz Nadir.
The efficacy and safety of magnesium sulphate for neonatal neuroprotection in patients with imminent preterm deliveries: experience at a tertiary care hospital.
J Med Sci Jan ;31(02):137-42.

Objective: The study aimed to find the effect of 4 grams of intravenous bolus antenatal dose of magnesium Sulphate on maternal and neonatal outcomes in preterm births. Material and Methods: In a one-year cross-sectional descriptive study, patients with active preterm labor or those with planned preterm birth at 28-34 weeks of gestation were included. Antenatal magnesium Sulphate was administered as a 4gm IV loading dose over 30 minutes. The data was analyzed with SPSS (version 20), where mean standard deviation was used for numerical variables and frequency and percentages for categorical variables. The sample size was 88. A P value <_0.05 is used as a threshold for statistical significance. Results: The mean age of patients was 28.78 (+- SD of 6.038) and the mean period of gestation remained 32.04 (+- 1.868). Similarly, the mean cervical dilatation at which magnesium Sulphate was given was 6.591 (+-1.358), the mean baby`s weight was 1.655 (+- 0.508) kg, and the mean Apgar score at 5 minutes was recorded as 7.11 (+-1.208). Regarding the period of gestation of the patients, 15 (17.04%) were at 28-30 weeks, 26 (29.54%) were at 30- 32 weeks and 47 (53.4%) were at 32- 34 weeks. Out of 88 patients, normal vaginal deliveries were conducted in 61 (69.38%) whereas, 27 (30.68%) patients had cesarean sections. Neonatal seizures were observed in 3 (2.6%), intraventricular hemorrhage in 2 (1.754%), Periventricular leukomalacia (PVL) 1(0.877%), and neonatal mortality in 5 (4.38%). Conclusion Magnesium Sulphate is a safe drug that plays an important role in protecting immature brains. Four-gram bolus is a sufficient dose as compared with infusion, which requires additional human resources and risks attached to prolonged infusions.

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