New data support terbutaline IV therapy
A recent study points to the effectiveness of the use of continuous low-level infusion of terbutaline for the treatment of preterm labor. The study was presented by Fung Lam, MD, at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Perinatal Obstetricians in Miami.
Lam, an obstetrician associated with the California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, conducted the largest study to date regarding the clinical efficacy of terbutaline for tocolysis. The study analyzed 256 women exhibiting signs and symptoms of preterm labor.
Those treated with oral terbutaline whose symptoms did not subside were then treated with continuous low-level infusion of terbutaline. Nearly a third (28%) of patients who received oral therapy were hospitalized because of continuing signs of preterm labor, vs. only 10% of patients treated with continuous low-level infusion of terbutaline. Pregnancies were prolonged an average of 2.7 weeks with oral therapy, compared to 4.4 weeks with infused terbutaline.
It is expected the study will be published in a national medical journal later this year. t
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