Comparison of the effect of fish oil and Ibuprofen on treatment of severe pain in primary dysmenorrhea

Background: Primary dysmenorrhea is common among young girls and child-bearing women. The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy of fish oil and Ibuprofen on the treatment of primary dysmenorrhea. Methods: This clinical trial study was done on students of Babol University of Medical Sciences in 2010. One hundred- twenty students who had moderate and severe dysmenorrhea were randomly divided in two groups. The first group (60 girls) received 1000 mg/day fish oil capsule in all her cycle days and the second group received 400 mg ibuprofen when their pain started (duration of this study was 2 months). Student t-test, Mann Whitney and Freidman tests were used when appropriate. This clinical trial was registered in the Iranian Registry of clinical Trials (www.IRCT.Ir) (IR21101133004N4). Results: There was a significant difference between the intensity of pain before and after treatment by ibuprofen (p=0.0001) and fish oil (p=0.0001). Furthermore, the reduction of pain in fish oil recipient was higher than the IBV prefer group (p=0.0001).Conclusion: The results show that the efficacy of fish oil is better than ibuprofen on treatment of severe pain in primary dysmenorrhea.