MASTALGIA

Mastalgia is a common clinical symptom experienced by up to 70% of women at some stage of their life. A wide variety of therapeutic agents are available for the treatment of mastalgia. Both evening primrose oil and non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs have been assessed in randomised controlled trials and demonstrated to be effective. The objective of this Quasi experimental study was to compare the efficacy and safety of topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs with evening primrose oil in the treatment of mastalgia. We studied 90 female patients presenting with breast pain from 25 July 2006 to 25 July 2007 at the surgical outpatient department of CMH Kharian. The patients were divided into three groups. Group-1 was given capsule Effamol (evening primrose oil), group-2 topical brufen gel and group-3 topical Vaseline for two months. Patients were followed every two weeks for two months. Response was assessed using Cardiff breast pain score. Side effects of drugs were recorded at each follow up. Out of 30 patients of group-1, 14 (46.6%) had clinically significant response at the end of 8 weeks treatment as compared to 27 (90%) in group-2. 5 (16.6%) patients of group-1 showed mild side effects while none in group-2 had any side effect. p- value was < 0.0001 showing highly significant statistical difference between 2 groups. Topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are safe and effective as compared to evening primrose oil in the treatment of mastalgia.