Efficacy of phloroglucinol for the treatment of pain of gynaecologic or obstetrical origin: a systematic review of literature of randomised controlled trials

Abstract

Purpose: Antispasmodics like phloroglucinol are commonly used to alleviate pain. Various authorities recommend the use of this drug for conditions such as dysmenorrhoea, threatened abortion or labour pains. The goal was to carry out a systematic review analysing the existing data concerning the efficacy of phloroglucinol to treat pain in obstetrical or gynaecologic cases. The protocol was registered in Prospero (CRD 42018094065).

Methods: The keywords "phloroglucinol" and "randomised controlled trials" were used to search Medline, Embase and the Cochrane Library. We selected randomised, controlled against placebo trials testing the effect of phloroglucinol on gynaecologic or obstetrical pain either as a primary or secondary endpoint. We excluded trials exploring pain caused by intestinal, renal, metabolic or other causes and trials that were not available for critical review in either English or French. A quantitative synthesis (meta-analysis) was planned if the included trials were sufficiently homogenous. If this were not the case, a descriptive synthesis would be presented.

Results: Twelve trials identified studied the effect of phloroglucinol in gynaecologic or obstetrical conditions. Only two trials corresponded to the inclusion criteria of this review, one of which was not available for critical review.

Conclusions: Phloroglucinol is not well evaluated in this field. Whether for labour pains, abortion pains or benign gynaecologic pains, the results found are insufficient to promote the use of this drug in these indications.

Keywords: Evidence-based medicine; Gynaecologic pains; Labor pain; Phloroglucinol; Randomised controlled trials.