June 2020 · Volume 9 · Issue 6 Page 2328 International Journal of Reproduction, Contraception, Obstetrics and Gynecology Patel AR et al. Int J Reprod Contracept Obstet Gynecol. 2020 Jun;9(6):2328-2332 www.ijrcog.org pISSN 2320-1770 | eISSN 2320-1789 Original Research Article Comparison of oral nifedipine and oral labetalol as a single drug therapy for control of blood pressure in preeclampsia Alpesh R. Patel*, Sneha R. Arora, Jalpa K. Bhatt INTRODUCTION Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy are common cause of maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. 1 Severity of it ranges from mild form of hypertension to multi organ failure and even death. It affects approximately 5- 10% of pregnancies and responsible for 14% of maternal death worldwide. 2 Hypertension during pregnancy includes gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, eclampsia, chronic hypertension, and preeclampsia superimposed on chronic hypertension. 3 Among this preeclampsia either alone or superimposed on chronic hypertension and eclampsia are majorly responsible for complications. 4 Preeclampsia is defined as onset of hypertension (systolic blood pressure more than 140 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure more than 90) in previously normotensive woman along with proteinuria (>300 mg/24 hours) with or without signs of end organ damage after 20 weeks of gestation. 5 Women with preeclampsia have increased risk of developing renal failure, Liver impairment, disseminated intravascular coagulopathy, cardiovascular diseases, cerebral hemorrhage, abruptio placenta, IUGR, and pre term delivery. 6 Early diagnosis of preeclampsia, regular antenatal check-up, appropriate management of hypertension and early intervention by delivery can significantly reduce these complications. Effective control of hypertension is one of the important steps in the management of preeclampsia and if blood ABSTRACT Background: Worldwide hypertension during pregnancy is a common cause of maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. Effective control of blood pressure is one of the important steps in management of preeclampsia. Few drugs like nifedipine, labetalol, methyldopa, and hydralazine have acceptable high safety profile during pregnancy. Methods: In this study 120 antenatal women with non-severe preeclampsia were compared by giving either nifedipine or labetalol as a single drug therapy for control of blood pressure. Various parameters like control of blood pressure, side effects of drugs, gestational age at the time of delivery, mode of delivery, any complication and perinatal outcome were assessed. Results: In this study authors found that in both group, adequate control of blood pressure was achieved. This study shows slightly higher rate of pre term delivery and LSCS with labetalol and minimal side effects with nifedipine but difference in each group is insignificant. Conclusions: Labetalol and nifedipine both the drugs are equally effective in reducing blood pressure and any of it can safely be used as a first choice of drug for management of hypertension in preeclampsia and it can be decided as per clinician’s experience and familiarity with drug. Keywords: Antihypertensive, Labetalol, Nifedipine, Non severe preeclampsia Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Dr. M. K. Shah Medical College and Research Centre, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India Received: 28 March 2020 Accepted: 29 April 2020 *Correspondence: Dr. Alpesh R. Patel, E-mail: dralpeshobgy@gmail.com Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2320-1770.ijrcog20202306