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Dysmenorrhea

Maggie C Wertz, MD Reviewed 05/2023
 


BASICS

DESCRIPTION

  • Pelvic pain occurring at/around time of menses; a leading cause of absenteeism for women <30 years old

  • Primary dysmenorrhea: pelvic pain without pathologic physical findings; diagn...

DIAGNOSIS

Typically a clinical diagnosis based on characteristic symptom history of suprapubic/low back cramping/pain occurring at or near menstrual flow onset lasting for 8 to 72 hours (2

HISTORY

  • Pr...

TREATMENT

  • Reassure the patient that treatment success is very likely with adherence to recommendations.

  • Relief may require the use of several treatment modalities at the same time.

GENERAL MEASURES

  • Regul...

ONGOING CARE

FOLLOW-UP RECOMMENDATIONS

Normal 

DIET

Insufficient evidence for any specific dietary changes 

PATIENT EDUCATION

Reassure the patient that primary dysmenorrhea is treatable with the use of NSA...

REFERENCES

1
Burnett  M, Lemyre  M. No. 345—primary dysmenorrhea consensus guideline. J Obstet Gynaecol Can.  2017;39(7):585–595. [View Abstract on OvidMedline] ...

ADDITIONAL READING

SEE ALSO

  • Dyspareunia; Endometriosis; Menorrhagia (Heavy Menstrual Bleeding); Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) and Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD)

  • Algorithm: Pelvic Pain

CODES

ICD10

  • N94.6 Dysmenorrhea, unspecified

  • N94.4 Primary dysmenorrhea

  • N94.5 Secondary dysmenorrhea

  • F45.8 Other somatoform disorders

SNOMED

  • 266599000 Dysmenorrhea

  • 32096006 Secondary dysmenorrhea

  • 65754002 Prim...

CLINICAL PEARLS

  • Dysmenorrhea is a leading cause of absenteeism for women age <30 years.

  • In women who desire contraception, hormonal contraceptives are the preferred treatment.

  • All NSAIDs studied have...

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