Sildenafil Citrate Versus Nifedipine and Dydrogesreone in Prevention of Preterm Labor with Short Cervix

Background: Prevention of the premature birth occurrence remains is considered one of the most tough challenges for obstetricians worldwide, mainly to avoid neonatal prematurity complications leading to short and long term morbidities additionally prematurity prevention will reduce premature neonatal mortality rates which is considered a major health concern of obstetricians, neonatologists and families. Objective: To compare and contrast the efficacy of Sildenafil citrate, Nifedipine and Dydrogesrone in prevention of premature labor in gestations with short cervix. Setting: Obstetrics & Gynecology Departments, Faculties of medicine, south Valley and Al-Azhar (Asyut) Universities, Egypt. Duration: from September 2014 to March 2018. Patients And Methds: the study was conducted on 300 pregnant women who randomly divided into three groups: Group I included 100 cases received Sildenafil citrate (Respatio tablet 20mg twice daily orally), Group II included 100 cases received Nifedipine (Epilat retard tablets 20mg twice daily orally) and Group III included 100 pregnant women received dydrogesreone 10 mg (Duphaston) twice daily orally. Results: incidence of preterm labor was (9.37, 8.51 and 14.28) in (Group I, Group II and Group II) respectively. Mean ± SD of cervical length at 32 weeks of gestation was mildly statistically significant among groups (p value <0.05) but no significance in neonatal outcome (p value >0.05) except birth weight which had a highly statistically significant difference (p value < 0.001). There was a highly statistically significant difference among studied groups as regard to drug side effects in (p value <0.001). Conclusion: Sildenafil citrate was as effective as Nifedipine and better than oral Dydrogesterone on myometrial relaxation and prevention of preterm birth in pregnant women who had short cervix.