Treatment of preterm labor with the oxytocin antagonist atosiban

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Oxytocin in this clinical trial publication.

The purpose of this study was to describe the course of preterm labor in patients receiving a standard intravenous infusion of the oxytocin antagonist atosiban.

Why It Was Studied

An open-labeled, non-randomized study was conducted at 4 sites.

Successful tocolysis was defined as delay of delivery larger than 48 hours from starting atosiban and no need for an alternate tocolytic.

Who Took Part

According to the abstract, 38 patients were involved.

PubMed indexes the participants as adults, women only.

Sixty-two patients of between 20 and 36 weeks' gestation were enrolled over 6 months.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as an open-label and placebo-controlled study.

Everyone knew when Oxytocin was being given (open label), which is simpler to run but leaves more room for expectations to affect what is reported.

A placebo (an inactive look-alike) gave the Oxytocin group a baseline to be compared against.

The methods mention a period of 6 months.

What Was Measured

PubMed files the paper under topics including Obstetric Labor, Premature, Oxytocin, Tocolytic Agents and Vasotocin.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is an open-label and placebo-controlled study of Oxytocin in 38 patients over 6 months.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

The publication is from 1996 (American journal of perinatology), a journal based in United States.

More context: the Oxytocin compound page, all human trials.