The effect of oral contraceptives on uterine contractility and menstrual pain: an assessment with cine MR imaging.

Background: Low-dose oral contraceptives (OC) have been reported to control primary dysmenorrhea. Furthermore, a close relationship between dysmenorrhea and uterine contractions has been visualized with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This study aimed to use cine MR to demonstrate the effects of OC on myometrial contractility during menstruation and to associate the findings with dysmenorrhea.

Methods: MR studies were obtained of 21 healthy female volunteers (22-47 years old) taking OC, and 20 control women (24-39 years old) not taking OC. Cine- and static MR images were obtained with a 1.5 T magnet during menstruation. Uterine contractility was assessed by the presence of endometrial distortion on cine MR, the area of the mid-sagittal uterine myometrium, and the thickness of the subendometrial low-intensity area on static images. Dysmenorrhea were assessed via a questionnaire.

Results: A total of 21 OC users and 20 controls were included in the analysis. Endometrial distortion was significantly less prominent and the subendometrial low-intensity area was significantly thinner in the OC group. Furthermore in the OC group, the uterine myometrial area was larger (although not significantly) and the degree of assessed pain was significantly lower.

Conclusions: Both cine- and static MR images demonstrate that myometrial contractility was relatively suppressed in OC users, which may represent one of the reasons explaining the reduced menstrual pain experienced by OC users.