Nicholls D P, Husaini M H, Bulpitt C J, Stephens M D, Butler A G
Br J Clin Pharmacol. 1980 Mar;9(3):233-7. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2125.1980.tb04832.x.
1 Labetalol has been compared with propranolol in a double-blind, double-dummy study of 24 patients with mild or moderate essential hypertension. 2 Two patients were unable to tolerate propranolol and five labetalol, because of symptom side effects; this difference was not significant (P greater than 0.1). 3 On a self-administered questionnaire, labetalol was associated with a greater number of side effects per patient than propranolol, but no individual side effect was significantly more common with either drug. 4 There was no difference in the number of spontaneously reported side effects between the two drugs. 5 Both drugs impaired pulmonary function, but propranolol caused a greater reduction than labetalol after 8 weeks of treatment. 6 We conclude that labetalol and propranolol are similarly effective and acceptable to the patient.
