Importance of Choice of Drugs and Timing of Their Administration

Safavi et al. (1) examined whether hydralazine, nitro- glycerin or nifedipine effectively attenuates the hemody- namic response to laryngoscopy and tracheal intubation in severe preeclamptic women undergoing cesarean de- livery under general anesthesia. They found that contin- uous intravenous (IV) infusion of nitroglycerin was more effective in attenuating the pressor response than IV hy- dralazine 5-10 mg or sublingual nifedipine 10 mg with- out significant adverse effects on the newborn. While their study provides some important informations, we would like to point out some methodological concerns and the choice of drugs.