Effectiveness of phloroglucinol to accelerate labor in Primigravidas at term: Double blind,randomized controlled trial

Aim: to study the efficacy of phloroglucinol for shortening of labor in primiparous women. setting: department of obstetrics and gynecology,shalamar teaching hospital lahore. study design: double blind randomized controlled trial. method: one hundred women in active phase of spontaneous and uncomplicated labour were selected by convenient sampling from dec,2009 to may,2010 and divided into study group (a) and control group (b). both the study group (n=50) and control group (n=50) received phloroglucinol 4ml (40mg) and placebo (distill water) 4ml intravenously respectively. progress of labour was plotted on partogram. the primary outcome measure was duration of labor. secondary outcome measures were blood loss at delivery,rate of cesarean section,and neonatal apgar scores. result: the mean duration of the first of stage labor in the control group was 311.12 minutes,compared with 203.06 minutes in the study group (p =0.004). similarly mean duration of combined first and second stage of labour was also significantly shorter in study group as compare to control group 230.09 minutes & 350.20minuts respectively. (p= 0.005). there was no significant difference in the duration of third stages of labor. (p = 0.194),amount of blood loss at delivery and neonatal apgar scores between two groups. there was a slightly higher rate of caesarean section in the control group as compared to study group but it was statistically insignificant. conclusion: phloroglucinol shortens the duration of labour effectively. it does not increase the risk of primary post partum hemorrhage and is not associated with any apparent adverse maternal or neonatal outcomes.