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Cochrane Evaluates Oral Meds in Women with GDM
Cochrane Database Syst Rev; 2017 Jan 25; Brown, et al
There is not enough high-quality evidence demonstrating that oral medication is better than placebo for women with gestational diabetes (or their babies), or that one medication works better than another, according to a new Cochrane review of 11 studies involving nearly 1,500 women.
When glibenclamide was compared with placebo, there was no difference in:
- Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.
- Risk of being born large-for-age (LGA).
When metformin was compared with placebo, there was no difference in:
- Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.
- Risk of being born LGA.
- Neonatal hypoglycemia or perinatal mortality.
When glibenclamide was compared with acarbose, there was no difference in:
- Any maternal or infant primary outcomes studied.
- Neonatal hypoglycemia.
The authors concluded that the benefits and potential harms of one oral anti-diabetic pharmacological therapy compared with another, or compared with placebo/standard care remains unclear and requires further research.
Brown J, Martis R, Hughes B, Rowan J, Crowther C. Oral anti diabetic pharmacological therapies for the treatment of women with gestational diabetes. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2017;1:CD011967. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD011967.pub2.