[A double blind study of the treatment of threatened abortion with fenoterol hydrobromide (author's transl)]

Abstract

To study the effectiveness of Fenoterol Hydrobromide in the treatment of threatened abortion a double blind trial was performed. A total of 112 patients was examined. A comprehensive statistical analysis was made including Chi square and Student's t-test to provide a valid comparison of both, trial and control groups, in order to eliminate any possible statistical bias, as seen in many of the former studies of this topic.

Results: 1. The number of surviving children during the perinatal period did not differ significantly in the placebo and Fenoterol groups. 2. Fenoterol did not influence the course of pregnancy, full term delivery or fetal outcome, unless early abortion occurred. 3. Pregnancies resulting in abortions obviously were not prolonged by Fenoterol treatment. 4. Histology of aborted pregnancies revealed major pathological findings in more than 99% of the cases. So it may be presumed, that pharmacological treatment was bound to fail in these cases.