Combined oral contraceptive pill helpful for primary dysmenorrhoea

This review did not cover long-term adverse effects (over 6 months) due to lack of long-term randomised controlled trials.

No more studies comparing OCPs with placebo for dysmenorrhoea are needed, but long-term studies ensuring the safety of continuous usage of OCP (ie, without a pause) are needed. Comparisons with other standard medical treatments would also be useful.

Prescribers need to consider that the use of OCPs as treatment for dysmenorrhoea does not just depend on efficacy, but also on the suitability of the treatment for each woman. If a woman wants to become pregnant or has contraindications to the OCP, then the OCP would be an unsuitable treatment option at that time.