Hoffmann, R. A wiki for the life sciences where authorship matters. Nature Genetics (2008)

Editor

Personal info

View

About

Terms

Javascript disabled

Please enable Javascript support in your browser to use this application.

Instructions on how to enable JavaScript on different browsers can be found here: http://www.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=23852.

[edit this page]

Walsh, K.E. et al.

Walsh, Berman, Berman, Vierregger,

Safety and efficacy of topical nitroglycerin for treatment of vulvar pain in women with vulvodynia: a pilot study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of topical nitroglycerin cream for the treatment of vulvar pain in women with vulvodynia. METHODS: A total of 34 women diagnosed with vulvodynia were included in this study. Patients were treated with 0.2% nitroglycerin cream in the clinic. The cream was applied directly to the skin at the genital/vulvar area where the pain was located. Patients who did not experience any adverse side effects were instructed to use the cream at home at least three times per week, 5-10 minutes prior to sexual relations. Patients completed a pretreatment pain scale at baseline and a posttreatment pain scale questionnaire 4-6 weeks later. RESULTS: Twenty-one patients completed both the pre- and posttreatment pain scale questionnaires, and 13 patients completed only the posttreatment pain questionnaire. Thirty-one patients (91.5%) stated that "overall" their pain had improved. Analysis of the pre- and posttreatment questionnaires revealed a significant decrease in pain intensity on a scale of 0 (no pain) to 5 (excruciating pain; 3.95-2.57; P < .000). There was also a significant decrease in the frequency of overall painful episodes on a scale of 0 (never) to 4 (always; 3.25-2.15, P < .006). All 21 patients reported "improvement" of pain during sexual activity (3.65-2.15; P < .005). CONCLUSION: Topical nitroglycerin is safe and effective in providing temporary relief of introital dyspareunia and vulvar pain in women with vulvodynia. Women who completed this study experienced significant improvement in their overall pain and pain with sexual activity after nitroglycerin use. A larger placebo-controlled study is necessary to establish the optimum dosage level and to minimize the side effects.[1]

References

Safety and efficacy of topical nitroglycerin for treatment of vulvar pain in women with vulvodynia: a pilot study. Walsh, K.E., Berman, J.R., Berman, L.A., Vierregger, K. The journal of gender-specific medicine : JGSM : the official journal of the Partnership for Women's Health at Columbia. (2002) [Pubmed]

Annotations and hyperlinks in this abstract are from individual authors of WikiGenes or automatically generated by the WikiGenes Data Mining Engine. The abstract is from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.About WikiGenes Open Access Licence Privacy Policy Terms of Use apsburg

The world's first wiki where authorship really matters (Nature Genetics, 2008). Due credit and reputation for authors. Imagine a global collaborative knowledge base for original thoughts. Search thousands of articles and collaborate with scientists around the globe.