Cyproterone acetate versus a continuous monophasic oral contraceptive in the treatment of recurrent pelvic pain after conservative surgery for symptomatic endometriosis

Paolo Vercellini, Olga De Giorgi, Paola Mosconi, Stellato G, Giovanna Stellato, Vicentini S, Sarah Vicentini, Pier Giorgio Crosignani, Crosignani PG
Fertility and sterility · 2002 · vol. 77(1) , pp. 52–61 · doi:10.1016/s0015-0282(01)02951-x · PMID:11779591 · W2151301625
article OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 121 in-corpus citations
View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by gemini-2.5-flash-lite, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

This study compared cyproterone acetate with a continuous monophasic oral contraceptive for treating recurrent pelvic pain after conservative endometriosis surgery.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

ObjectiveTo evaluate the efficacy and safety of cyproterone acetate versus an oral contraceptive in the treatment of endometriosis-associated recurrent pelvic pain.DesignRandomized controlled trial.SettingAcademic center.Patient(s)Ninety women with recurrent moderate or severe pelvic pain after conservative surgery for symptomatic endometriosis.Intervention(s)Six months of continuous treatment with oral cyproterone acetate, 12.5 mg/d, or an oral contraceptive containing ethinyl estradiol, 0.02 mg, and desogestrel, 0.15 mg.Main outcome measure(s)Degree of satisfaction with therapy.Result(s)Six patients in the cyproterone acetate arm and nine in the oral contraceptive arm withdrew because of side effects (n = 9), treatment inefficacy (n = 4), or loss to follow-up (n = 2). At 6 months, dysmenorrhea, deep dyspareunia, and nonmenstrual pelvic pain scores were substantially reduced, and significant improvements were observed in health-related quality-of-life, psychiatric profile, and sexual satisfaction; no major between-group differences were seen. Subjective and metabolic side effects were limited. According to an intention-to-treat analysis, 33 of 45 (73%) of patients in the cyproterone acetate group and 30 of 45 (67%) in the oral contraceptive group were satisfied with the treatment received.ConclusionsBoth cyproterone acetate and a continuous monophasic oral contraceptive were effective, safe, and inexpensive therapy for recurrent pain after conservative surgery for endometriosis.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

dysmenorrheadyspareuniaendometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Contraceptives, Oral Cyproterone Acetate Endometriosis Pain Progesterone Congeners Adult Contraceptives, Oral Cyproterone Acetate Depression Depression Dysmenorrhea Dysmenorrhea Dysmenorrhea Dyspareunia Dyspareunia Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Female Follow-Up Studies

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (27)

Cited by (50)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-09-05T06:14:40.014199+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-05-13T22:13:13.417725+00:00
unpaywall
last seen: 2026-09-05T06:29:56.012541+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK