It was reasonable to hope that maintenance therapy with oral beta-mimetics might successfully prevent recurrent preterm labour until the fetus was sufficiently mature. No benefits in terms of substantive delay of labour or improved fetal outcomes are shown. The results of this review do not support the use of oral beta-agonist maintenance therapy after a successfully treated episode of acute preterm labour. Because no benefit has been proved, the costs and potential risks of maintenance therapy must be seriously considered for each patient. Nevertheless, the question about the role, if any, for oral maintenance therapy has not been answered.
Preterm labour is a common and serious problem.
Only 220 patients were enrolled in the 4 adequately controlled trials included in this meta-analysis. Although no statistically significant benefits were found, the wide confidence limits on the results included the possibility of clinically important benefits. Further controlled research to provide a clearer answer is required and would be justified.