Manage endometriosis-related pain with hormonal suppression therapies

In: Drugs & Therapy Perspectives · 2019 · vol. 35(4) , pp. 167–170 · doi:10.1007/s40267-019-00601-3 · W2908683978
article OA: closed CC0
Full text JSON View on OpenAlex View at publisher
AI-generated summary by gemini-2.5-flash-lite+body, 2026-07-10

First-line treatments for endometriosis-related pain include NSAIDs and hormonal suppression therapies like estroprogestins and progestins.

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

AI-generated deep summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 · read from full text

This paper reviews current and emerging pharmacologic approaches for managing pain in women with endometriosis, focusing on hormonal suppression therapies such as estroprogestins and progestins as generally used first-line options, and second-line options including GnRH agonists/antagonists, danazol, and aromatase inhibitors. It summarizes the broader evidence base across multiple cited studies and guidelines rather than reporting new patient-level data, emphasizing relief of symptoms like dysmenorrhea and pelvic/non-menstrual pain. A stated limitation is that the work is an adaptation of a previous review (and is not supported by external funding), meaning it synthesizes existing trials rather than generating new trial outcomes. This paper is centrally about endometriosis—specifically reviewing hormonal suppression therapies used to manage endometriosis-related pain.

Read from the paper's body, not the abstract. Not a substitute for reading the paper. No clinical advice. How this works

Full text 8,103 characters · extracted from oa-doi-fallback · 2 sections · click to expand

Abstract

Endometriosis is a benign chronic inflammatory disease that mostly affects women of reproductive age. The disease is often associated with dysmenorrhoea, pelvic and non-menstrual pain, and infertility. NSAIDs and hormonal suppression therapies (i.e. estroprogestins and progestins) are generally used as first-line treatment to alleviate pain symptoms. Second-line options include other hormonal suppressants, such as gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists and antagonists and, less commonly, danazol and aromatase inhibitors. Similar content being viewed by others

References

Ferrero S, Barra F, Maggiore ULR. Current and emerging therapeutics for the management of endometriosis. Drugs. 2018;78(10):995–1012. Kauppila A, Ronnberg L. Naproxen sodium in dysmenorrhea secondary to endometriosis. Obstet Gynecol. 1985;65(3):379–83. Brown J, Crawford TJ, Allen C, et al. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for pain in women with endometriosis. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2017;1:CD004753. Dunselman GA, Vermeulen N, Becker C, et al. ESHRE guideline: management of women with endometriosis. Hum Reprod. 2014;29(3):400–12. Harada T, Momoeda M, Taketani Y, et al. Low-dose oral contraceptive pill for dysmenorrhea associated with endometriosis: a placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized trial. Fertil Steril. 2008;90(5):1583–8. Sesti F, Pietropolli A, Capozzolo T, et al. Hormonal suppression treatment or dietary therapy versus placebo in the control of painful symptoms after conservative surgery for endometriosis stage III–IV: a randomized comparative trial. Fertil Steril. 2007;88(6):1541–7. Parazzini F, Di Cintio E, Chatenoud L, et al. Estroprogestin vs. gonadotrophin agonists plus estroprogestin in the treatment of endometriosis-related pelvic pain: a randomized trial. Gruppo Italiano per lo Studio dell’Endometriosi. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol. 2000;88(1):11–4. Vercellini P, Barbara G, Somigliana E, et al. Comparison of contraceptive ring and patch for the treatment of symptomatic endometriosis. Fertil Steril. 2010;93(7):2150–61. Walch K, Unfried G, Huber J, et al. Implanon versus medroxyprogesterone acetate: effects on pain scores in patients with symptomatic endometriosis—a pilot study. Contraception. 2009;79(1):29–34. Wong AY, Tang LC, Chin RK. Levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system (Mirena) and Depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (Depoprovera) as long-term maintenance therapy for patients with moderate and severe endometriosis: a randomised controlled trial. Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol. 2010;50(3):273–9. Vercellini P, Bracco B, Mosconi P, et al. Norethindrone acetate or dienogest for the treatment of symptomatic endometriosis: a before and after study. Fertil Steril. 2016;105(3):734–743 e3. Brown J, Kives S, Akhtar M. Progestagens and anti-progestagens for pain associated with endometriosis. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2012;3:CD002122. Telimaa S, Ronnberg L, Kauppila A. Placebo-controlled comparison of danazol and high-dose medroxyprogesterone acetate in the treatment of endometriosis after conservative surgery. Gynecol Endocrinol. 1987;1(4):363–71. Crosignani PG, Luciano A, Ray A, et al. Subcutaneous depot medroxyprogesterone acetate versus leuprolide acetate in the treatment of endometriosis-associated pain. Hum Reprod. 2006;21(1):248–56. Strowitzki T, Marr J, Gerlinger C, et al. Dienogest is as effective as leuprolide acetate in treating the painful symptoms of endometriosis: a 24-week, randomized, multicentre, open-label trial. Hum Reprod. 2010;25(3):633–41. Harada T, Momoeda M, Taketani Y, et al. Dienogest is as effective as intranasal buserelin acetate for the relief of pain symptoms associated with endometriosis—a randomized, double-blind, multicenter, controlled trial. Fertil Steril. 2009;91(3):675–81. Cosson M, Querleu D, Donnez J, et al. Dienogest is as effective as triptorelin in the treatment of endometriosis after laparoscopic surgery: results of a prospective, multicenter, randomized study. Fertil Steril. 2002;77(4):684–92. Takaesu Y, Nishi H, Kojima J, et al. Dienogest compared with gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist after conservative surgery for endometriosis. J Obstet Gynaecol Res. 2016;42(9):1152–8. Schlaff WD, Carson SA, Luciano A, et al. Subcutaneous injection of depot medroxyprogesterone acetate compared with leuprolide acetate in the treatment of endometriosis-associated pain. Fertil Steril. 2006;85(2):314–25. Lan S, Ling L, Jianhong Z, et al. Analysis of the levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system in women with endometriosis. J Int Med Res. 2013;41(3):548–58. Andres Mde P, Lopes LA, Baracat EC, et al. Dienogest in the treatment of endometriosis: systematic review. Arch Gynecol Obstet. 2015;292(3):523–9. Lockhat FB, Emembolu JO, Konje JC. The efficacy, side-effects and continuation rates in women with symptomatic endometriosis undergoing treatment with an intra-uterine administered progestogen (levonorgestrel): a 3 year follow-up. Hum Reprod. 2005;20(3):789–93. Morotti M, Venturini PL, Biscaldi E, et al. Efficacy and acceptability of long-term norethindrone acetate for the treatment of rectovaginal endometriosis. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol. 2017;213:4–10. Vercellini P, Somigliana E, Consonni D, et al. Surgical versus medical treatment for endometriosis-associated severe deep dyspareunia: I. Effect on pain during intercourse and patient satisfaction. Hum Reprod. 2012;27(12):3450–9. Vercellini P, Frattaruolo MP, Somigliana E, et al. Surgical versus low-dose progestin treatment for endometriosis-associated severe deep dyspareunia II: effect on sexual functioning, psychological status and health-related quality of life. Hum Reprod. 2013;28(5):1221–30. Morotti M, Remorgida V, Venturini PL, et al. Progestin-only contraception compared with extended combined oral contraceptive in women with migraine without aura: a retrospective pilot study. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol. 2014;183:178–82. + J, Yu Q, Zhang S, et al. Dienogest for treatment of endometriosis in Chinese women: a placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blind phase 3 study. J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2018;27(2):148–55. Agarwal SK, Hamrang C, Henzl MR, et al. Nafarelin vs. leuprolide acetate depot for endometriosis. Changes in bone mineral density and vasomotor symptoms. Nafarelin Study Group. J Reprod Med. 1997;42(7):413–23. Brown J, Pan A, Hart RJ. Gonadotrophin-releasing hormone analogues for pain associated with endometriosis. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2010;12:CD008475. Abu Hashim H. Gonadotrophin-releasing hormone analogues and endometriosis: current strategies and new insights. Gynecol Endocrinol. 2012;28(4):314–21. Taylor HS, Giudice LC, Lessey BA, et al. Treatment of endometriosis-associated pain with elagolix, an oral GnRH antagonist. N Engl J Med. 2017;377(1):28–40. Ferrero S, Venturini PL, Ragni N, et al. Pharmacological treatment of endometriosis: experience with aromatase inhibitors. Drugs. 2009;69(8):943–52. Ferrero S, Venturini PL, Gillott DJ, et al. Letrozole and norethisterone acetate versus letrozole and triptorelin in the treatment of endometriosis related pain symptoms: a randomized controlled trial. Reprod Biol Endocrinol. 2011;9:88. Soysal S, Soysal ME, Ozer S, et al. The effects of post-surgical administration of goserelin plus anastrozole compared to goserelin alone in patients with severe endometriosis: a prospective randomized trial. Hum Reprod. 2004;19(1):160–7. Author information Authors and Affiliations Consortia Ethics declarations Conflict of interest The article was adapted from Drugs 2018;78(10):995–1012 [1] by employees of Adis/Springer, who are responsible for the article content and declare no conflicts of interest. Funding The preparation of this review was not supported by any external funding. Rights and permissions About this article Cite this article Adis Medical Writers. Manage endometriosis-related pain with hormonal suppression therapies. Drugs Ther Perspect 35, 167–170 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40267-019-00601-3 Published: Version of record: Issue date: DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40267-019-00601-3

Text is read by the "Ask this paper" AI Q&A widget below. Extraction quality varies by source — PMC NXML preserves structure cleanly, OA-HTML may include some navigation residue, and OA-PDF can have broken hyphenation. The publisher copy (via DOI) is the canonical version.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Ask this paper AI returns verbatim quotes from the full text · source: oa-doi-fallback

Answers must be backed by verbatim quotes from this paper's full text. Hallucinated quotes are dropped automatically; if no verbatim passage answers the question, we say so. How this works

Condition tags

endometriosis

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 (34)

Source provenance

openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK