Nifedipine

Generic Name: Nifedipine

Brand Names:

Availability: Available with Prescription

Drug Class: Antihypertensive vasodilator (calcium channel blocker)

Therapeutic action

  • Uterine relaxant

Indications

  • Threatened premature labour

Forms and strengths

  • 10 mg immediate-release soft capsule or tablet

Dosage and duration

  • 10 mg by oral route, to be repeated every 15 minutes if uterine contractions persist (max. 4 doses or 40 mg), then 20 mg by oral route every 6 hours

The total duration of treatment is 48 hours.

Contra-indications, adverse effects, precautions

  • Do not administer to patients with severe cardiac disease (recent myocardial infarction, unstable angina).
  • Do not administer if systolic blood pressure is below 90 mmHg. 
  • May cause:
    • headache, flushing, peripheral oedema (common adverse effects at the start of treatment); 
    • dizziness, hypotension, tachycardia, nausea,gingival hyperplasia, rash.
  • Stop nifedipine if ischaemic chest pain occurs or existing pain increases after starting treatment.
  • Do not combine with magnesium sulphate, salbutamol IV, and other calcium channel blockers.
  • Monitor combination with cimetidine (enhances hypotensive effects), phenytoin (risk of phenytoin overdose), rifampicin (efficacy of nifedipine diminished), itraconazole (increased risk of oedema), beta-blockers (increased adverse cardiac effects).
  • Pregnancy: CONTRA-INDICATED during the first trimester. Never administer sublingually (risk of foetal death from placental hypoperfusion).
  • Breast-feeding: avoid

Remarks

  • Nifedipine is a calcium channel blocker that is also used in the management of hypertension at doses of 10 to 40 mg 2 times daily or 20 to 90 mg once daily, depending on the sustained-release form used.

Storage

– Below 25 °C