Efficacy of micronised vaginal progesterone versus oral dydrogestrone in the treatment of irregular dysfunctional uterine bleeding: a pilot randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: The vaginal route is more effective than the other drug delivery routes for some specific indications.

AIM: To compare the efficacy of a vaginal progesterone preparation with that of oral dydrogesterone.

METHODS: A total of 69 women with irregular dysfunctional uterine bleeding were randomly assigned into one of two groups: oral dydrogesterone group (n = 35) and vaginal progesterone group (n = 34). At the end of a three-month treatment period, the women were re-evaluated. The endometrial histology findings and menstrual cycle characteristics were used as primary outcome measures. Pearson chi-square and Fisher's exact test were used for data analysis.

RESULTS: Findings from 54 eligible women were evaluated. There was no statistically significant difference in both menstrual recordings and endometrial histology results between the groups.

CONCLUSIONS: Vaginal micronised progesterone could be an alternative to oral preparations in the treatment of dysfunctional uterine bleeding. This needs to be further evaluated in adequately controlled randomised trials against other effective treatments.