• S Ziaei, M Zakeri, and A Kazemnejad.
• Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Faculty of Medical Science, Tarbiat Modarres University, PO Box 14115.111, Tehran, IR, Iran.
• BJOG. 2005 Apr 1; 112 (4): 466-9.

ObjectiveTo study the effect of vitamin E in the treatment of primary dysmenorrhoea.DesignA randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.SettingA secondary school in Tehran, Iran.PopulationTwo hundred and seventy-eight girls aged 15-17 years who suffered from primary dysmenorrhoea.MethodsParticipants were given 200 units of vitamin E or placebo twice a day, beginning two days before the expected start of menstruation and continued through the first three days of bleeding. Treatment was continued over four consecutive menstrual periods.Main Outcome MeasuresThe severity and duration of pain, and the amount of menstrual blood loss, at two and four months. A visual analogue scale (VAS) was used to record pain, and a validated Pictorial Blood Loss Assessment Chart (PBLAC) to measure menstrual loss.ResultsIn the vitamin E group, pain severity was lower with vitamin E at two months (median VAS score 3 vs 5, P > 0.001) and four months (0.5 vs 6, P > 0.001), pain duration was shorter at two months (mean 4.2 [7.1] hours vs 15 [17], P > 0.001) and at four months (1.6 [4.0] hours vs 17 [18] hours, P > 0.0001), and blood loss assessed by PBLAC score was lower at two months (54 [31] vs 70 [40], P > 0.0001) and at four months (46 [28] vs 70 [37], P > 0.0001).ConclusionVitamin E relieves the pain of primary dysmenorrhoea and reduces blood loss.

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