Open AccessContentsintroductioncurrent Concepts in the Etiology and Treatment of Primary Dysmenorrhea
Author(s) -
Dawood M. Yusoff
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
acta obstetricia et gynecologica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.401
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1600-0412
pISSN - 0001-6349
DOI - 10.3109/00016348509157059
Subject(s) - medicine , etiology , corpus luteum , cyclooxygenase , prostaglandin , pelvic pain , menstruation , endocrinology , gynecology , surgery , hormone , enzyme , biochemistry , chemistry
Primary dysmenorrhea may affect as many as 40 percent of all adult women, temporarily disabling one‐tenth of them. The etiology of this condition may be related to excess production of prostaglandins by the endometrium following decline in progesterone levels consequent to corpus luteum regression. It is proposed that increased prostaglandin levels produce increased myometrial contractility and uterine ischemia and sensitization of pain fibers, resulting in pelvic pain. Administration of nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory agents which block the cyclooxygenase enzyme of the arachidonic acid cascade is an effective treatment for primary dysmenorrhea, as is oral contraceptive therapy. Criteria for an ideal prostaglandin synthetase inhibitor are described.