Atosiban versus ritodrine as tocolytics in external cephalic version

Abstract

Objective

To assess the efficacy of atosiban versus ritodrine as tocolytics in external cephalic version (ECV).

Materials and methods

A prospective comparative trial was carried out in a tertiary hospital. 430 women with singleton breech pregnancies ≥36 weeks were recruited for ECV, 215 with ritodrine and 215 with atosiban as tocolytic agents. The efficacy, complications and perinatal outcomes were compared between both groups. The associations between variables were analyzed using the chi-square test (χ²) (qualitative), Student’s t test (quantitative, parametric) or Mann-Whitney test (nonparametric). Statistical significance was established as p < .05.

Results

The overall ECV success rate was 47.9% (206/430), 46.0% in the atosiban group (99/215) and 49.8% in the ritodrine group (107/215). This difference showed no statistical significance (p = .440). A higher rate of uterine contractions after the maneuver was observed in the atosiban group (34.4 versus 22.8%; p = .008), but without clinical relevance. Perinatal outcomes were similar in both groups, with no significant differences.

Conclusion

Atosiban and ritodrine showed similar efficacy as tocolytic agents in ECV, with no differences in complications and perinatal outcomes between these two agents.

Keywords:

• Atosiban
• breech
• external cephalic version
• ritodrine
• tocolytics

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.