A comparison of two different oral contraceptives in patients with severe primary dysmenorrhoea

Gülsüm Uysal, Hatice Akkaya, Cagli F, Fulya Cagli, Fulya Çağlı, Tutus S, Sadan Tutus, Şadan Tutuş, Ahter Tanay Tayyar
Journal of obstetrics and gynaecology : the journal of the Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology · 2018 · vol. 38(6) , pp. 828–832 · doi:10.1080/01443615.2017.1410533 · PMID:29537325 · W2790952752
RCT OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 3 in-corpus citations
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⚙ AI-generated summary by gemini-2.5-flash-lite, 2026-06-09 ⓘ

This study found that both estradiol valerate/dienogest and ethinylestradiol/drospirenone reduced pain and uterine artery resistance index in patients with severe primary dysmenorrhea.

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Abstract

Pain relief of two different oral contraceptive pills (OCPs) in severe primary dysmenorrhoea (PD) was compared. Sixty-six nulliparous patients with severe PD requiring contraception were evaluated. Group 1 comprised 33 healthy controls. Patients with severe PD were divided into two groups. Patients in Group 2 were administered oestradiol valerate/dienogest and patients in Group 3 were administered ethinylestradiol/drospirenone. Doppler indices of both uterine arteries (left and right) including systolic/diastolicrates (S/D), pulsatility index (PI) and resistance index (RI) were measured, and a visual analogue scale (VAS) was applied to patients before treatment. VAS scores and Doppler indices were repeated after 3 months of OCP treatment and the changes in values were compared. The demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients were similar. The mean value of RI was significantly lower after therapy in Groups 2 and 3 in the right and left uterine arteries (p = .001 and p = .039, respectively). The clinical trial number was NCT03124524. Impact Statement What is already known on this subject: OCPs are the most appropriate treatment option for PD. There is no clear data about OCP containing dienogest for treatment in PD. Dienogest has been reported to be highly effective in the treatment of endometriosis and is also recommended as first-line therapy for pelvic pain-associated endometriosis. What the results of this study add: In this study, although there was no superiority in pain relief between the treatment groups, lower VAS scores and lower RI values of uterine arteries were seen after treatment. Both OCPs relieve pain in severe PD. There was no serious adverse effect in the patients. What the implications are of these findings for clinical practice and/or further research: Estradiol valerate/dienogest, which is a routinely prescribed drug for heavy menstrual bleeding in women who desire oral contraception, is as effective as ethinylestradiol/drospirenone in pain relief.

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Outcome instruments

VAS-pain

Condition tags

dysmenorrheachronic_pelvic_painendometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Androstenes Contraceptives, Oral Dysmenorrhea Estradiol Ethinyl Estradiol Nandrolone Adolescent Adolescent Adult Adult Androstenes Androstenes Contraceptives, Oral Contraceptives, Oral Drug Combinations Drug Combinations Dysmenorrhea Dysmenorrhea Dysmenorrhea Dysmenorrhea

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References (22)

Cited by (3)

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