THE PRESENT STATUS OF OXYTOCICS IN OBSTETRICS

Abstract

The rapid strides that obstetrics has made in the present century has detracted little from the universal popularity that the oxytocic drugs have enjoyed since their introduction into medicine. New drugs and many derivatives of the older drugs have been introduced from time to time, and some have added confusion to the therapeutic armamentarium of the obstetrician. Clinical impressions on the value of many of these oxytocics have had to give way to sounder methods of investigation and evaluation. It is thus not surprising to find that many of the therapeutic claims for drugs used in ancient eras have not withstood the test of time and progress. The first authentic oxytocic drug introduced into medicine was ergot. The medicinal properties of this fungus, which attacks rye, the consumption of which resulted in widespread epidemics of ergotism leaving mutilation and death in its wake, was known to European midwives. However, it