The first comprehensive study of its kind at the "Haemek" Medical Center and the Faculty of Medicine at the Technion will help in choosing the drug to prevent premature birth.
The first comprehensive study of its kind, conducted at the "Haemek" Medical Center and the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine at the Technion, will help prevent premature birth and make it easier for doctors to choose the most effective drug. The study included 145 women and was published in the Journal of the American Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
"Premature birth is the leading cause of perinatal morbidity and mortality," explains the leader of the study, Dr. Raid Salim. "In general, the goal is to extend the gestational age as much as possible to prevent premature births. However, in some cases it is necessary to stop the birth for 48 hours to allow treatment with drugs to ripen the fetus or to transfer the mother to another medical center. Until today, it was not clear to the doctors what the drug of choice for these two purposes is."
In a study carried out at "Haemek", pregnant women admitted to the hospital with a diagnosis of premature birth were randomly divided into 2 groups of initial treatment with the drugs "ATOSIBAN" or "NIFEDIPINE". If the labor did not stop after one hour from the start of the treatment, it was changed to the corresponding study drug. 75 women in the "nifedipine" group and 70 women in the "autosiban" group completed the treatment and entered the data processing.
"Otosivan" was found to be more effective in stopping in the short term, while more women treated with "nifedipine" did not give birth a week after the start of treatment. The average gestational age at birth was significantly higher in the group of women treated with "nifedipine" compared to "otosiban".
Professor Eliezer Shalu, dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the Technion and one of the authors of the study, says that following the study it is possible to determine for the first time, and on a solid factual basis, that in cases where it is important to stop the birth for 48 hours it is better to use "Otosiban". On the other hand, in all other cases it is better to use "nifedipine", which is a cheap and simple drug to use. "This work gives a clear answer to the correct treatment method for stopping birth," he emphasized.
Dr. Gali Garmi, Dr. Zohar Nahum, Dr. Noa Zafarn and Dr. Shira Baram, all from the "Haemek" medical center, also participated in the study.
