Uterine activity

Continuously monitor uterine activity and fetal heart rate when giving drug therapy for cervical ripening or oxytocin. Total duration of monitoring depends on the agent used, and current guidelines recommend the following44,45 ... 

Labour 45 mg None serious labour not retarded increased uterine activity no significant change in foetal heart rate 201... 

There is much debate as to the efficacy of magnesium sulfate. For effective inhibition of uterine activity, enough must be given to maintain a blood plasma level of at least 5.5 mEq/L. Even at this level, tocolysis may be hard to achieve. 

Elliott JP, Radin TG. The effect of corticosteroid administration on uterine activity and preterm labor in high-order multiple gestations. Obstet Gynecol 1995 85(2) 250 1. 

Harris and Cohen204 found that ovariectomy lowers the uterine activity of /3-D-glucuronidase but does not affect the activity of vagina, liver, kidney, and spleen of mice. Estrone restores the uterine-enzyme activity and increases mammary-gland levels, but does not affect the other organs. They found that the phosphatase levels more closely paralleled tissue growth than did /3-glucuronidase. 

The ideal drug must relieve labour pain without making the patient confused or imcooperative. It must not interfere with uterine activity nor must it influence the fetus, e.g. to cause respiratory depression by a direct action, by prolonging labour or by reducing uterine blood supply. It should also be suitable for use by a midwife without supervision. 

Oxytocin is used i.v. in the induction of labour and sometimes for uterine inertia, haemorrhage or during abortion. It produces, almost immediately rhythmic contractions with relaxation between, i.e. it mimics normal uterine activity... 

Neumark J, Faller T. Halothan, Enfluran und ihr Einfluss auf die Uterusaktivitat am Geburts-Termin. [The effects of halothane and enflurane on uterine activity during childbirth.) Prakt Anaesth 1978 13(1) 7-12. 

The cause of PD is thought to be increased uterine activity. This may result from ... 

The mechanism of labor onset has been elucidated in mammalian and nonhuman primate systems, but the sequence in humans is still unclear. The transition from phase 0 (quiescence) to phase 1 (activation) may be explained by the loss of inhibition of uterine activity mediators, such as progesterone, prostacyclin, and others. Once activation occurs, oxytocin, prostaglandin E2, and prostaglandin P2a increase and stimulate contractions of the uterus. ... 

Indomethacin is available for the short-term treatment of acute gouty arthritis, acute pain of ankylosing spondylitis, and osteoarthritis. An injectable form to be reconstituted also is available as the sodium trihydrate salt for IV use in premature infants with patent ductus arteriosus. Because of its ability to suppress uterine activity by inhibiting prostaglandin biosynthesis, indomethacin also has an unlabeled use to prevent premature labor. 

Documented effects Pharmacological investigations of the plant extract showed effects on uterine activity (Khalmatov 1964). 

Kurmukov AG (1968a) Alkaloids as stimulants of uterine activity. Dokl Akad Nauk UzSSR 25(12) 23-24 (in Russian)... 

Ethanol has been used recently in obstetrics and in neonatal pediatrics for three principal therapeutic reasons prevention of premature labor, reduction of anticipated neonatal hyperbilirubinemia, and parenteral nutrition. The use of ethanol in the prevention of premature labor is based on its inhibitory effect on uterine activity in early labor it presumably acts by inhibiting the release of oxytocin from the neurohypophysis (Fuchs l., 1967). Ethanol when administered to near-term or term pregnant patients has been shown to reduce hyperbilirubinemia in the neonates (Waltman t l., 1969). Its use has been suggested, therefore, to reduce anticipated hyperbilirubinemia in those neonates in which high serum bilirubin may be expected, such as premature infants. The reduction of bilirubin after ethanol administration is probably due to increased glucuronidation of bilirubin since ethanol has been demonstrated to stimulate a variety of microsomal enzymes in both animals and man (Rubin t l., 1968). 

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