Abstract
It has been evidenced that very few systematic reviews have examined the effectiveness of ginger for pain duration and its severity among women with primary dysmenorrhea. This meta-analysis was therefore performed to methodically incorporate and significantly evaluate randomized controlled ginger studies for the treatment of primary dysmenorrhea. The literature was searched using PubMed, Embase, Ovid, ClinicalKey, Medline, and electronic database. We have analyzed clinical trials by comparing ginger with placebo and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in women with primary dysmenorrhea. The primary outcomes assessed in our meta-analysis were pain severity and pain duration. Secondary outcomes were change in bleeding, side effects of the drug, and rate of satisfaction. We have screened a total of 638 studies, out of which narrative synthesis was formulated for eight studies. We have performed a meta-analysis of five trials examining ginger with placebo and other two randomized controlled trials comparing ginger with a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID); it seems to be more helpful for relieving menstrual pain than a placebo (mean difference [MD] = 2.67, 95% CI = 3.51-1.84, P = 0.0001, I2 = 86%), although it was found that ginger and NSAIDs were equally effective in pain severity (risk ratios [RR] = 1.15, 95% CI = 0.53-2.52, P = 0.72, I2 =77%). We have not observed any significant difference between ginger and placebo on pain duration among primary dysmenorrheic women (MD = -2.22, 95% CI = -7.62-3.18, P = 0.42, I2 = 56%). Accessible information proposes that oral ginger can be a compelling treatment for primary dysmenorrhea. This meta-analysis strongly supports the requirement for high methodological quality consistency for upcoming trials.
Highlights
Primary dysmenorrhea is a common condition that occurs in the absence of any pelvic disease
Dysmenorrhea results from the withdrawal of progesterone near the peak of a menstrual cycle; this withdrawal has been shown to extend the synthesis of prostaglandins F2 (PGF2) and E2 (PGE2)
Ginger versus placebo: A pooled analysis of Rahnama et al and Abadi et al showed the effectiveness of ginger and placebo on pain duration in women with primary dysmenorrhea and revealed no significant difference between ginger and placebo in pain duration in a three days’ regime (MD = -2.22, 95% confidence intervals (CI) = -7.623.18, P = 0.42, I2 = 56%) (Figure 5)
Summary
Primary dysmenorrhea is a common condition that occurs in the absence of any pelvic disease. It is one of the most familiar gynecology problem, which decreases the performance of women and causes 34%-50% of absentees from education and career; dysmenorrhea has many social and economic ramifications, and this impacts the psychological health of women along with the quality of life [1,2,3]. Berkley’s study [5] mentioned that dysmenorrhea has been distinguished as primary and secondary. In the absence of pelvic conditions, primary dysmenorrhea occurs when the pain starts at the beginning of menstrual bleeding and continues for 12-48 hours. Dugasani et al.'s study [8] revealed that herbs and spices are the various treatments used by women, which are widely accepted safe and known to be effective
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