A comparison of gestational days gained with oral terbutaline versus continuous subcutaneous terbutaline in women with twin gestations

To compare gestational days gained with oral versus subcutaneous terbutaline for maintenance tocolysis. In retrospective fashion 386 women enrolled in an outpatient preterm labor identification program met the following criteria: twin gestation, development of threatened preterm labor resulting in treatment with oral terbutaline, and subsequent recurrence of threatened preterm labor resulting in treatment with continuous subcutaneous terbutaline. The primary outcome was gestational days gained with oral terbutaline versus gain with continuous subcutaneous terbutaline. There were significantly more days gained during subcutaneous treatment than during oral treatment (34.0 +/- 19.8 versus 19.3 +/- 15.3 days). Thirty-three percent of desired prolongation was achieved with oral terbutaline, whereas 79% of desired prolongation was achieved with subcutaneous terbutaline (p < 0.001). Patients gained a mean of 53.4 +/- 21.4 days overall with outpatient tocolysis. The mean gestational age at delivery was 35.2 +/- 1.9 weeks. Continuous subcutaneous terbutaline was superior to oral terbutaline in prolonging gestation in women with twin gestations.