Qurat-ul Ain, Fariha Shoukat, Noreen Akmal, Kiran Khurshid Malik, Madiha Rashid.
Comparison between Sildenafil Citrate & Nifedipine with Nifedipine Alone for the Treatment of Threatened Preterm Labour.
Pak J Med Health Sci Jan ;14(2):433-6.

Background: Pre-term labour is a serious issue that impact the both maternal and neonatal health. There is debate how to deal with this issue and multiple options are utilized. In this study the tocolytic action of nifedipine combined with sildenafil citrate (SC) versus nifedipine alone in inhibiting threatened preterm labour (PTL) is evaluated so that a drug of choice could be determined. Methods: It was a randomized controlled trial carried out in Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Lahore for a duration of six months. Patients were randomly allocated to receive either (1) nifedipine 20mg orally (stat dose), followed by 10mg orally every 8 hours and at the same time oral administration of SC (25mg at 8-hourly intervals) or (2) nifedipine alone. Medications were continued for 72 hours. The comparison of women who remained undelivered during hospitalization and one week after admission, was made to determine the best modality to prevent the threatened preterm labor. Results: The baseline characteristics of participants were similar (p-value>0.05).On comparison of the both treatment groups, it was found that 121(82.9%) in the combination group and 103(70.5%) in the nifedipine alone group remained un-delivered. (P-value<0.05). Moreover, a significant difference was noted with respect to delivery at one week for both treatment group. Conclusions: Oral SC combined with nifedipine is an effective option for tocolytic therapy for threatened PTL.

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