Classification of threatened premature labor related to treatment with a prostaglandin inhibitor: indomethacin.

68 patients complaining of premature uterine contractions were treated with a prostaglandin synthetase inhibitor--indomethacin. This agent had a marked effect on uterine contractions suppressing them completely after 1--8 h from the administration of the drug. Classificaiton of the premature contractions according to a scoring system method is analyzed in this study. The score classified the patients into three groups and enabled us to treat them with a correct dosage and period according to the clinical findings at admission of the patients. Indomethacin treatment was effective in all the 68 patients. The drug was well tolerated by all the patients with minimal side effects. The outcome of the newborns was satisfactory, and laboratory tests on various systems of the pregnant women and newborns were normal during and after treatment with indomethacin.