REDUCTION BY MEFENAMIC ACID OF INCREASED MENSTRUAL BLOOD LOSS ASSOCIATED WITH TNTRAUTERINE CONTRACEPTION

Summary

Twenty-five healthy parous women using intrauterine contraceptive devices (IUCD's) received mefenamic acid, 500 mg 8-hourly, during two menstrual periods. Two pre- and two post-treatment menses were similarly studied, by the collection of used sanitary pads and/or tampons and measurement of daily blood loss. A highly significant reduction in mean total blood loss during the treatment periods was observed, unaffected by whether therapy began on the first day of bleeding or in the late luteal phase. The reduction was observed among both inert and copper-containing IUCD-users. Expressed as a percentage of the mean pre-treatment volume, the reduction in loss was not significantly different for those IUCD-users who were light losers (less than 80 ml) compared with heavy losers (80 ml or more), but it was greater in volume terms among the latter. The amounts lost during the post-treatment periods, whether or not placebo tablets were given, were not significantly different from pre-treatment. Reports of side effects were infrequent. By contrast with the reduction in volume lost, no effect of mefenamic acid on the total duration of bleeding and non-collectable 'spotting’could be demonstrated.