Evaluation of the efficacy of Fructus agni casti in women with severe primary dysmenorrhea: a prospective comparative Doppler study.
AIM
The aim of this case-control study was to compare the efficacy of ethinyl estradiol/drospirenone and Fructus agni casti in women with severe primary dysmenorrhea measuring uterine artery blood flow via Doppler ultrasonography.


METHODS
A total of 60 women with severe primary dysmenorrhea and 30 healthy women (control) were included in this study. Thirty patients were treated with ethinyl estradiol 0.03 mg/drospirenone (group 1) and another 30 were treated with Fructus agni casti (group 2) during three menstrual cycles. Before and at the end of third month of therapy visual analog scale (VAS) scores, pulsatility index (PI), resistance index (RI) of uterine artery were recorded before and after receiving therapy on the first day of the menstrual cycle.


RESULTS
Mean PI and RI values in patients with severe primary dysmenorrhea were significantly higher than in the control groups on the first day of the menstrual cycle (P < 0.0001). Mean PI and RI values were significantly lower after the treatment in both groups compared to before values (P < 0.001 for both). After using the drugs for three menstrual cycles, VAS scores were significantly dropped in both groups compared to before treatment values (P < 0.0001 for both); however, there were no significant differences in terms of Doppler findings between group 1 and 2.


CONCLUSION
The effectiveness of Fructus agni casti was similar to that of ethinyl estradiol/drospirenone in patients with primary dysmenorrhea.
['Aksoy|Ayse Nur|AN|', 'Gözükara|Ilay|I|', 'Kabil Kucur|Suna|S|']
D000293:Adolescent D000328:Adult D000736:Androstenes D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal D016022:Case-Control Studies D004412:Dysmenorrhea D004997:Ethinyl Estradiol D005260:Female D006801:Humans D008517:Phytotherapy D010936:Plant Extracts D012039:Regional Blood Flow D014421:Turkey D018615:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color D055988:Uterine Artery D014599:Uterus D020950:Vitex D055815:Young Adult
Fructus agni casti primary dysmenorrhea uterine artery Doppler ultrasonography oral contraceptive