Progestins in the Medical Management of Endometriosis

Endometriosis is a chronic and debilitating disease affecting a large number of women. It is one of the important etiology of chronic pelvic pain and dysmenorrhea. Prevalence is more in women with infertility. It poses a major challenge for clinicians as there is no permanent cure and even after definitive management, there are high chances of recurrence. The classical triad of dysmenorrhea, dyspareunia and infertility as an important diagnostic feature present in these women. As it affects all the aspects of life of affected woman, a lot of research is directed to find out ideal medication for endometriosis, which has good efficacy, is tolerable, cost-effective, easily available, which targets the basic pathology of disease and cures it. However, such cure is yet to be found. Very similar to ideal agent is a new novel molecule, Dienogest. Its profile is discussed here along with the various studies showing its efficacy and pharmacology and comparison with other progestins already being used since long. Other potential progestins are also discussed providing a whole spectrum of drugs with different efficacy and profiles.