ACUTE MANAGEMENT OF HYPERTENSIVE EMERGENCIES IN PREGNANCY: ORAL NIFEDIPINE VERSUS INTRAVENOUS LABETALOL

Abstract

Objective:

To compare the outcome of oral Nifedipine & intravenous Labetalol in severe pregnancy induced hypertension in terms of time taken to achieve the target blood pressure.

Study Design: Randomized controlled trial.

Place and Duration of Study: Conducted at department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Combined Military Hospital Lahore, from Jan 2014 to Jun 2014.

Materials and Methods:

After taking ethical approval, pregnant women at ≥28 weeks of gestation with sustained blood pressures of ≥160/110 mmHg were included in the study. Patients were randomly assigned into two groups to receive either oral Nifedipine or intravenous Labetalol. The data was collected and analyzed on SPSS version 20.

Results:

In oral Nifedipine group 64% patients were between 18-30 years while 36% were between 31-35 years of age. In intravenous Labetalol group, 58% patients were between 18-30 years while 42% were between 31-35 years of age. Fifty two percent patients in oral Nifedipine group & 54% cases in intravenous labetalol were between 29-34 weeks of gestation while 48% patients in oral Nifedipine and 46% in intravenous labetalol group were between 35-40 weeks of gestation. Time taken to achieve the target blood pressure is 31.14 ± 3.14 minutes in Oral Nifedipine & 51.08+4.11 minutes in Intravenous Labetalol group. A p-value was 0.011671 which was significant.

Conclusion:

Nifedipine is more effective in severe pregnancy induced hypertension to achieve the target blood pressure as compared to labetalol. It is more suitable in our setup as it is economical and easy to administer.