Comparison of efficacy for tocolysis of preterm labour between magnesium sulphate and nifedipine

Aim:to compare efficacy for tocolysis of preterm labour between magnesium sulphate and nifedipine methods: 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,h/o 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 pregnancy were excluded. the selected casesrandomly divided into two groups a and b. outcome variables like cessation of uterine contractions till 48 hours (efficacy) were noted for successful or unsuccessful outcome. results: the mean 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 is associated with higher efficacy i.e. 89.1% for acute tocolysis of preterm labour as compared to oral nifedipine and should be used as first line tocolytic agent.