Labetalol versus Methyldopa for Treatment of Pregnancy Induced Hypertension

Abstract

Objective: To compare the mean fall in blood pressure with oral Labetalol versus Methyldopa in treating pregnancy induced hypertension. Study Design: Quasi-experimental study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Gynecology, Combined Military Hospital, Bannu Pakistan, from Aug 2020-Feb 2021. Methodology: After approval from institutional ethical committee and informed consent, sixty females with Pregnancy Induced Hypertension were included who were segregated into two groups. Group-A who took oral Labetalol 100 mg three or four times a day (up to 1200 mg per day) until the targeted blood pressure (<120/80 mmHg) was achieved. While Group-B took oral Methyldopa 250mg per day 3 to 4 up to 500 mg until targeted blood pressure(<120/80)was achieved. All patients were followed-up after one week of therapy. Primary outcome was mean fall in systolic and diastolic blood pressure after 5 days of treatment. Results: The mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures were analogous in both Groups A and B, i.e. 152.33±6.53/100.33±4.54 mmHg versus 151.17±5.83/99.50±4.01 mmHg respectively. The mean fall in systolic BP in Group-A was 15.50±4.80 mmHg and in Group-B was 7.33±2.86 mmHg (p-value<0.0001) and mean fall in diastolic BP in Group-A was 13.17±5.80 mmHg compared to 5.50 ± 4.22 mmHg in Group-B (p-value<0.001). Conclusion: We concluded that Labetalol is more effective in reducing blood pressure as compared to Methyldopa in Pregnancy Induced Hypertension.

Keywords

• Labetalol, Methyldopa, Pregnancy induced hypertension.