LABETALOL VERSUS METHYLDOPA: EFFICACY IN PREGNANCY INDUCED HYPERTENSION

Background: During pregnancy hypertension is an important medical problem and is major cause of maternal mortality thus antihypertensive drugs are used to reduce the risk of developing severe hypertension. This study was design to compare the efficacy of α and β-blocker labetalol and centrally acting methyldopa in controlling blood pressure in patients having pregnancy induced hypertension. Material & Methods: This study was carried out from June 2012 to May 2014 at Dow University Hospital OJHA Campus Karachi .A total of 120 patients having pregnancy induced hypertension were taken and divided randomly in to two groups. Group A was given labetalol 100mg tid and group B methyldopa 250 mg tid. In both the groups pre and post treatment mean systolic/diastolic BP and then subsequently average BP pre and post treatment values were measured daily and compared. Time required to control BP, average dose of drugs required to control BP, side effects of drugs were the different observations which were made in regards of fall in BP due to labetalol and methyldopa. Results: Labetalol treated group of patients showed significant fall in mean systolic/diastolic BP with mean time required to control B.P was 35.65 hours and in methyldopa treated group it was 43.46 hours. Mean Bishop Score at induction in present study in group A was 9.89 and in group B was 8.18 with a statistically significant value of p