norethindrone-enanthate and Menorrhagia

Norethisterone enanthate (NET-EN) 50 mg combined with estradiol valerate (EV) 5 mg was studied as a once-a-month injectable contraceptive with regard to effectiveness, cycle control, adverse events and acceptability. In eight Family Planning Centres from 5 Latin American countries, 652 fertile women were followed-up for a period of 24 months, providing a total of 10,689 woman-months of experience. Only 1 pregnancy occurred, in the first treated month a few days before the second injection (failure rate 0.11 per 100 woman-years). Under treatment, the first cycle was drastically shortened in most cases, but thereafter cycles tended to recover to pre-treatment patterns. There was a significant decrease of hypermenorrhea and dysmenorrheic cycles. Intracyclic bleeding and spotting appeared in 1.2% and 2.4%, respectively, and amenorrhea in 2.5% of cycles. Incidence of other adverse events was very low with the exception of weight gain of 2 Kg (28%). Continuation rate at 12 months was 64.7%. The cumulative discontinuation rate due to bleeding problems was 7.4% and 10.7% due to adverse events at 24 months.

Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Contraceptive Agents, Female; Contraceptives, Oral, Synthetic; Drug Therapy, Combination; Dysmenorrhea; Estradiol; Family Planning Services; Female; Humans; Incidence; Injections; Menorrhagia; Menstrual Cycle; Norethindrone; Time Factors

This report summarises a survey of the management of menstrual disturbances occurring during injectable progestogen use (depot-medroxyprogesterone acetate, DMPA, and norethisterone enanthate, NET-EN) by 35 investigators from 20 countries with ongoing experience of these contraceptives. A wide range of approaches are described. The most frequently emphasised aspect of management is thorough pre-treatment counselling with further support and counselling at follow-up visits. Oestrogens in various forms are widely used for the treatment of prolonged, frequent or heavy episodes of bleeding, but nowadays are not usually used for the induction of withdrawal bleeding in women with amenorrhoea. Heavy or "severe" bleeding appears to be very uncommon and figures of 1-2% were frequently mentioned. Anecdotal information suggests that intramuscular doses or longer courses (14-21 days) of oral oestrogen, including the combined pill, are more likely to successfully stop an episode of bleeding than short courses. However, there are no hard data to show that a course of oestrogen treatment has any beneficial effect on long-term bleeding patterns. Nevertheless, temporary cessation of spotting or light bleeding may be sufficiently reassuring to the patient to ensure continued use of the method. There appears to be very little risk associated with the short-term oestrogen regimens currently used. Dilatation and curettage is almost never necessary to stop an episode of bleeding, but may occasionally be recommended for diagnostic reasons. It is clear that the bleeding disturbances associated with DMPA and NET-EN use are poorly understood and that urgent research is necessary to clarify pathophysiological mechanisms and improve management.. This report summarizes a survey of the management of menstrual disturbances occurring during injectable progestogen use (depot-medroxyprogesterone acetate, DMPA and norethisterone enanthate, NET-EN) by 35 investigators from 20 countries with ongoing experience with these contraceptives. A wide range of approaches are described. The most frequently emphasized aspect of management is thorough pretreatment counseling with further support and counseling at follow-up visits. Estrogens in various forms are widely used for the treatment of prolonged, frequent, or heavy bleeding episodes, but now are not usually used for induction of withdrawal bleeding episodes in women with amenorrhea. Heavy or severe bleeding appears very uncommon and figures of 1-2% are mentioned. Anecdotal information suggests that intramuscular doses or longer courses (14-21 days) of oral estrogen, including the combined pill, are more likely to successfully stop an episode of heavy bleeding than short courses. However, there are no hard data to show that a course of estrogen treatment has any beneficial effect on longterm bleeding patterns. Nevertheless, temporary cessation of spotting or light bleeding may be sufficiently reassuring to the patient to ensure continued use of the method. There appears to be little risk associated with short-term estrogen regimens currently in use. Dilatation and curettage is almost never necessary to stop an episode of bleeding, but may occasionally be recommended for diagnostic reasons. Clearly, bleeding connected with DMPA and NET--EN use are poorly understood and research is necessary to clarify pathophysiological mechanisms and improve management.

Topics: Amenorrhea; Contraceptive Agents, Female; Curettage; Estrogens; Female; Humans; Medroxyprogesterone; Medroxyprogesterone Acetate; Menorrhagia; Menstruation Disturbances; Norethindrone; Oligomenorrhea