Tocolytics and preterm labour: whether to treat or not is the real dilemma, not which drug to use (editorial)

Title: Tocolytics and preterm labour: whether to treat or not is the real dilemma, not which drug to use (editorial)
Creator: Carlin, Andrew; Norman, Jane; Cole, Stephen; Smith, Roger
Relation: British Medical Journal Vol. 339, Issue b195, p. 727-728
Publisher Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.b195
Publisher: BMJ Publishing Group
Resource Type: journal article
Date: 2009
Description: Preterm labour is still the main cause of perinatal morbidity and mortality in the developed world. Despite a better understanding of the pathophysiology, and the recognition that it is a syndrome with multiple causes, rates continue to rise. In the linked cohort study, de Heus and colleagues assess the incidence of serious maternal complications with the use of tocolytic drugs for the treatment of preterm labour. Corticosteroids given to women at risk of preterm birth increase fetal lung maturity and can reduce fetal death, intraventricular haemorrhage, and respiratory distress by up to 50%. In contrast, it is still unclear whether tocolysis improves neonatal or longer term outcomes. Thus, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ clinical guideline on tocolysis concludes that, “it is reasonable not to use tocolytic drugs.”
Subject: editorials; tocolytics; preterm labour; perinatal morbidities; perinatal mortalities
Identifier: uon:7910
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/916150
Identifier: ISSN:0959-8146

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