Nifedipine or Labetalol: Hypertension Management during Pregnancy
Zoobia Z Khan
Clinical Research Center, Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Ahmed Sohail
Clinical Research Center, Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Atif Yusufzai
Internal Medicine, Islamabad Medical and Dental College, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Hassan Imtiaz
Clinical Research Center, Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Neelam Asghar
Clinical Research Center, Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Hassan Mumtaz *
Clinical Research Center, Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad, Pakistan and Urology Department, Guys & St Thomas Hospital, London, UK.
Shahzaib Ahmad
Mayo Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan.
Syed Abdul Ahad
Dow Medical College, Pakistan.
Mohammad Hasan
Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center (JPMC), King's College Hospital, UK.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Introduction: Hypertension complicates 10% of pregnancies causing significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. It is considered severe hypertension if Systolic >160 and Diastolic >110 lasting more than 15 minutes. It is an Obstetric emergency and needs prompt appropriate treatment.
Methods: A quasi-experimental study was conducted at Tehsil Headquarter Hospital. One hundred fifty patients were included in the study divided into two groups: Nifedipine group (n:75) getting oral Nifedipine and Labetalol group (n:75) getting IV Labetalol.
Results: This study shows that goal therapeutic blood pressure was reached earlier in patients receiving oral Nifedipine 28.2 ± 11.7minutes as compared with those receiving intravenous Labetalol 48.4 +- 23.5minutes.
Fewer doses were required for the nifedipine group in contrast to the IV labetalol group Failure of treatment was higher among the IV labetalol group.
Conclusion: Oral nifedipine is as productive and safe as compared to Iv labetalol and is more convenient in Low resource settings.
Keywords: Oral nifedipine, Labetalol, Hypertension, pregnancy