Efficacy of Glyceryl Trinitrite Transdermal Patch in The Management of Preterm Labour

Abstract

Objective: To observe the tocolytic efficacy of Glyceryl trinitrate transdermal patches in preterm labour between 28 – 36 weeks of pregnancy.
Study duration: Study duration was 6 months January 2014 to June 2014.
Methodology: This descriptive cases series study was conducted at the obstetrics & Gynaecology Department at Peoples Medical University of Medical and Health Sciences for women Nawabshah. A 10 mg of transdermal GTN patch was applied on the anterior abdominal wall and replaced by the second patch of the same dose after 24 hours(if contraction does not cease the second patch can be repeated after 12 hours if required). The effectiveness of GTN patch was considered successful if the cessation of uterine contraction occurred within 24 hours of the application of GTN patch & persisted for 48 hrs to achieve the effect of steroids. All the data was entered in the proforma.
Results: Total 186 pregnant women with preterm labour were selected.  The average age of the women was 30.46±5.24 years. According to the parity of the women, 75.8% women were multipara. Average gestational age was 33.15±2.28 weeks. Tocolytic efficacy of Glyceryl trinitrate transdermal patch in preterm labour was 88.71%. No significant difference was observed in the efficacy of Glyceryl trinitrate according to age groups, parity, gestational age, number of uterine contraction and cervical dilatation.
Conclusion: There is no better incubator than a mother's womb. The Glyceryl trinitrate patch appears to be a safe, non-invasive method of suppressing uterine contractions in pre-term labour.