Increased progesterone production during the luteal phase of menstruation may decrease anesthetic requirement.

Unlabelled: Besides having important hormonal effects, progesterone has depressant and hypnotic effects on the brain. In this study, we compared women in the follicular phase with low progesterone levels and in the luteal phase with high progesterone levels regarding their anesthetic requirements. Twenty patients with menstrual cycle days from 1 to 10 (follicular group) and 20 patients with menstrual cycle days from 18 to 24 (luteal group) were included in the study.