Hydralazine was the most common drug for others to be evaluated against .
Diazoxide , given as 75 mg bolus injections , appears to be associated with maternal hypotension requiring treatment , and ketanserin is less effective than hydralazine at reducing blood pressure .
There is no other clear evidence that any one of the other antihypertensive agents is better than another for women with severe hypertension during pregnancy .
Exceptions are diazoxide and ketanserin , which are probably not good choices
BACKGROUND Very high blood pressure during pregnancy poses a serious threat to women and their babies .
The use of drugs to lower blood pressure will reduce this risk for the women , and possibly also for the baby .
OBJECTIVES The objective of this review was to compare different antihypertensive drugs used for treatment of severe hypertension during pregnancy .
Management of hypertensive emergencies of pregnancy by hydralazine bolus injection vs continuous drip--a comparative study.
This prospect i ve study was conducted at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital , Bangladesh . The objective was to identify the time required to control high blood pressure levels in obstetric patients by injection of hydralazine in a bolus intravenous dose vs continuous drip .  Seventy-seven patients with eclampsia and hypertensive emergencies comprised the target population . Patients were managed either by hydralazine drip in normal saline ( existing official protocol , n = 33 ) or hydralazine bolus injection ( as experiment , n = 44 ) until diastolic blood pressure fell to 90 - 95 mmHg . Results were compared . Student 's t-test was done for statistical significance , and a P value of < .05 was considered as significant . The groups were similar with respect to maternal age and their mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure  at the time of enrollment . Patients who received bolus injection required less time to achieve the therapeutic goal ( 65.23 + /- 23.38 minutes ) than continuous drip ( 186.36 + /- 79.77 minutes ; P < .001 ) . The experimental group also required significantly lower doses ( 6.68 + /- 1.66 mg ) in comparison to that required by control group ( 20.07 + /- 11.38 mg ; P < .001 ) . There was no overshoot hypotension in either group . The data suggest that hydralazine bolus dose is equally safe and more effective than continuous drip in the management of hypertensive emergencies in pregnancy
Hydralazine was the most common drug for others to be evaluated against .
Diazoxide , given as 75 mg bolus injections , appears to be associated with maternal hypotension requiring treatment , and ketanserin is less effective than hydralazine at reducing blood pressure .
There is no other clear evidence that any one of the other antihypertensive agents is better than another for women with severe hypertension during pregnancy .
Exceptions are diazoxide and ketanserin , which are probably not good choices
BACKGROUND Very high blood pressure during pregnancy poses a serious threat to women and their babies .
The use of drugs to lower blood pressure will reduce this risk for the women , and possibly also for the baby .
OBJECTIVES The objective of this review was to compare different antihypertensive drugs used for treatment of severe hypertension during pregnancy .