Dilemmas in the Pharmacological Management of Preterm Labor

It is the thesis of the author that the use of Ritodrine in the treatment of premature labor is potentially dangerous and possibly even lethal. Ritodrine is being overused in the attempt to control and delay premature labor. Only 25 to 50 per cent of patients complaining of premature labor pains actually proceed to true preterm labor. Because there is no definitive screening test to firmly establish the diagnosis of preterm labor, many women are treated unnecessarily with a drug that many obstetricians question as to its efficacy, safety, and cost. If it is used, it must be in a hospital with adequate facilities both in manpower and the ability to identify and treat the medical and obstetrical complications. Ritodrine is too potentially dangerous to be used as an attempt to "do something" it there are questionable indications.