Conditions: Dysmenorrhea
Keywords: Sildenafil
Allocation: RANDOMIZED | Intervention model: PARALLEL
Enrollment: 25
Healthy volunteers: yes

Brief summary:
The primary hypothesis is that a 100mg single dose of sildenafil citrate (Viagra) will have a higher improvement rate when compared to placebo in the treatment of moderate to severe primary dysmenorrhea.

Detailed description:
It is well established that excess prostaglandin production in primary dysmenorrhea leads to ischemia of the uterine muscle, which consequently causes pelvic pain. A large number of drugs have been studied for pain relief in dysmenorrhea patients, with non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) being the most effective with the overall success rate of more than 75%. Sildenafil citrate (Viagra) is an inhibitor that augments the vasodilatory effects of nitric oxide by preventing the degradation of Cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) in the uterine muscle. Sildenafil is commonly used in the treatment of male erectile dysfunction, pulmonary hypertension in children and adults, and in vitro fertilization. To date it has not been used in the treatment of primary dysmenorrhea.

Arms:
arm 1: A single vaginal dose of Viagra 100 mg. arm 2: A single vaginal dose of placebo.

Interventions: intervention 1: Sildenafil Citrate intervention 2: Placebo
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: A single vaginal dose of sildenafil citrate 100 mg and monitored for 4 hours. intervention 2: A single vaginal dose of placebo and monitored for 4 hours.

Protocol document: