Progestagens and anti-progestagens for pain associated with endometriosis

A Prentice, Sari Kives, A J Deary, Julie Brown, E Bland, Andrew Prentice, Alison Deary, Elaine Bland
The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2000 · pp. CD002122 · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd002122 · PMID:10796864 · W4233835377
review OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 58 in-corpus citations
View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

This review of seven trials found that progestagens and the anti-progestagen gestrinone are effective treatments for endometriosis-associated pain, though continuous progestagens are more effective than those given in the luteal phase.

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

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Endometriosis is a gynaecological condition that presents either with the problem of infertility or with painful symptoms. The clinical observation of an apparent resolution of symptoms during pregnancy gave rise to the concept of treating patients with a pseudo-pregnancy regime. Initially combinations of high dose oestrogens and progestagens were used but this was subsequently replaced by progestogens alone. More recently progestogens of both progestagens and anti-progestagens in the treatment of symptomatiprogestogenssis OBJECTIVES: To determine the effectiveness of both the progestagens and anti-progestagens in the treatment of painful symptoms ascribed to the diagnosis of endometriosis. SEARCH STRATEGY: The search strategy of the Menstrual Disorders and Subfertility Group was utilised to identify all publications which described or might have described randomised trials of any progestagen or any anti-progestagen in the treatment of symptomatic endometriosis. SELECTION CRITERIA: Trials were included if they were randomised and considered the effectiveness of either a progestagen or an anti-progestagen in the treatment of painful symptoms associated with endometriosis. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Seven studies were considered to be appropriate for inclusion in this review. Only three studies evaluating progestagens were included (comparison with placebo, danazol and oral contraceptive plus danazol). All other studies compared the anti-progestagen, gestrinone, with other medical therapies. MAIN RESULTS: Progestagens appear to be an effective therapy for the painful symptoms associated with endometriosis. Gestrinone is as effective as other established medical therapies (danazol and GnRH analogues). REVIEWER'S CONCLUSIONS: The limited available data suggests that both continuous progestagens and anti-progestagens are effective therapies in the treatment of painful symptoms associated with endometriosis. Progestagens given in the luteal phase are not effective. These conclusions should be accepted cautiously due to a lack of data.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

mesh:D004715endometriosisinfertility

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Progesterone Congeners Progestins Dydrogesterone Dydrogesterone Endometriosis Endometriosis Female Gestrinone Gestrinone Humans Medroxyprogesterone Acetate Medroxyprogesterone Acetate Pain Pain Pain Progesterone Congeners Progestins

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)

Cited by (50)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-06-04T01:30:01.192114+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-04T00:00:01.174412+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-05-13T22:13:41.710148+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK