An open, prospective study, including 15 young women with primary
dysmenorrhea was carried out to asses the prophylactic administration of
Ibuprofen for the treatment of severe and disabling primary
dysmenorrhea. The study lasted six months, representing a total of 90 cycles, the inclusion criteria were: 1) severe and disabling primary
dysmenorrhea, 2) Failure with previous conventional treatments, 3) regular menstrual cycles, 4) without active sexual life, 5) voluntary participation. The treatment schedule included 400 mg of
ibuprofen every 8 hours, starting 24 hours before the menstrual cycle during 4 days of menstruation for six consecutive cycles. The intensity of the
pain was recorded every eight hours using a linear analogue scale from 0 to 10 where 0 was absence of
pain and 10 was severe or disabling
pain. Results showed that the mean of initial intensity of the menstrual
cramp experienced in the cycle before the treatment (control) was 9.47 +/- 0.5. During the prophylactic treatment the means of initial intensity of the
pain were significantly lower, between 7.84 +/- 0.37 and 7.21 +/- 0.52. A statistically significant progressive decrease of
pain was recorded during the
duration of treatment. After 48 hours of treatment the intensity of the
pain was recorded as three (mild). We conclude that the prophylactic administration of
ibuprofen is an effective treatment for selected women experiencing severe and disabling primary
dysmenorrhea.