Nifedipine is sometimes used as a tocolytic medicine during preterm labor to slow uterine contractions. Nifedipine is taken only by mouth (orally) as a tablet or capsule.
Nifedipine, a calcium channel blocker, is more commonly used to treat high blood pressure and heart disease.
How It Works
Smooth muscle tissue, like the uterus, needs calcium to contract. Nifedipine blocks the passage of calcium into certain tissues, relaxing the uterine muscles and smooth muscles of blood vessels throughout the body.
Why It Is Used
Nifedipine is used to treat preterm labor when:
Regular contractions of the uterus have thinned (effaced) the cervix and opened (dilated) it less than 4 cm, and the mother's amniotic sac has not broken.
The mother is healthy.
The fetus is alive and not in distress.
Labor needs to be delayed for 24 to 48 hours. This delay is typically needed with corticosteroid treatment to help fetal lungs mature. Sometimes labor is delayed so the mother can be moved to a hospital with special facilities for treating premature infants.
Side effects of this drug
Brady cardia , client should check his own pulse
No comments:
Post a Comment