Comparison of the Effect of Mefenamic Acid and Matricaria Camomilla Capsules on Primary Dysmenorrhea

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The most common pelvic cyclic pain and the most common complaint of gynecologic patients is dysmenorrhea that causes many personal and social problems. Mefenamic acid with a lot of side effects and matricaria camomilla are useful for treatment of primary dysmenorrhea. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of mefenamic acid and matricaria camomilla capsules on primary dysmenorrhea.METHODS: This cross over, triple-blind randomized clinical trial study was performed on 80 students with primary dysmenorrhea, staying in Tehran University dormitory. They were randomly allocated to mefenamic acid and matricaria camomilla groups. Research took place in three stages. In the first stage, all students for two consecutive cycles in regard to suffering from second or third degree dysmenorrhea were examined. In the second stage, mefenamic acid or matricaria camomilla capsules with check list for the amount of bleeding and VAS scale were randomly given to each of the research units. In the third stage, each research unit received the same treatment of the opposite group with the same characteristics (crossover treatment) and for another two consecutive cycles this same method with replacing the medicine was repeated again. Each person was studied for 6 cycles. The patient marked the intensity of their pain on the visual analogue scale an hour before taking the first dose of the medicine and also 1 hour, 2 hours, 4 hours, and 48 hours after taking the first dose.FINDINGS: The mean age in both groups was 24.72±2.55 years. The mean of pain severity before treatment was 4.65±0.47 and after treatment was 2.80±1.04 and 1.12±0.43 in the mefenamic acid and matricaria camomilla groups, respectively that in comparison to the sign of pain it was revealed that the severity of pain decreased after two treatment cycles in the two groups receiving mefenamic acid and matricaria camomilla capsules. But this decrease in the matricaria camomilla group was considerable (p