Objective: To compare the mean fall in mean arterial pressure between labetalol and hydralazine in patients with severe hypertension in eclampsia.

Methodology: This randomized Controlled Trial study was conducted in the Gynaecology and Obstetrics Department,Mardan Medical Complex, Mardan Pakistan, from 5th January 2021-5th July 2021.In this study, a total of 150 patients were selected and randomly divided into two groups (A & B) by using random number table generated in SPSS v. 21. Half of the patients were allotted to Group A (Labetalol group) and other half to group B (Hydralazine group). Blood pressure at baseline was recorded and mean arterial pressure (MAP) was calculated. In Group A 20mg labetalol was given slow intravenous while similarly in group B hydralazine 5mg intravenous was given. All patients were observed and followed in the obstetrics ward for 30 minutes with good monitoring facilities. After 30 minutes, blood pressure was noted again, and MAP was calculated and recorded on the proforma. SPSS version 21 was used for data analysis. Age, BMI, gestational age, mean arterial pressure at baseline, and fall in mean arterial pressure were presented in the form of mean ± SD. Parity and booking status was presented in the form of frequency and percentage.The stratification of data was done in both groups and were compared for the mean fall in mean arterial pressure by using an independent samples t-test and level of significance was taken as p-value ≤0.05.

Results: Our study showed that in Group A (labetalol) mean age was 27 years, with SD ± 8.10. where in Group B (hydralazine), the mean age was 28 years with SD ± 7.88. In Group A (labetalol) the mean fall in arterial pressure was 30.05 ± 5.32 mmHg while in Group B (hydralazine), the mean fall in arterial pressure was 22.19 ± 8.27 mmHg with, p-value 0.0001 which concluded that labetalol was more effective than hydralazine for controlling severe hypertension with eclampsia.