Efficacy of Glyceryl Trinitrate Transdermal Patch in treatment of preterm labour

Objective: to determine efficacy of glyceryl trinitrate transdermal patch in treatment of preterm labour. methods: this quasi-experimental study was conducted at the gynae unit-i of lady willingdon hospital lahore,from july 2009 to junes 2010. 113 pregnant women at 28-34 weeks of gestation were recruited after they met the selection criteria based on non-probability consecutive sampling. 103 patients continued with trial while 10 patients did not follow up. patients diagnosed with pre-term labour were given glyceryl trinitrate (gtn) 5 mg/12 hours transdermal patch which was applied on the anterior abdominal wall. the second patch of same dose was applied after 12 hours. results: dramatic effects were seen in around 93 (90.7%),of the total patients who had felt relief from preterm labour pains and only 10 (9.7%) patients could not go beyond 24 hours,among them 3 had previous uterine scar and 7 developed ruptured membranes after 12 hours of admission and their babies also could not survive. delivery was deferred up to 48 hours,3 to 7 days and more than 7 days in 10 (1%),12 (12%) and 71 (69%) respectively. conclusion: glyceryl trinitrate,trans dermal patch is effective tocolytic in treatment of preterm labour.