Historical prospective cohort study of the recurrence of pain after discontinuation of treatment with danazol or a gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the duration of time to the recurrence of pain attributable to endometriosis after the discontinuation of treatment with danazol or a GnRH agonist (GnRH-a) in patients who have had a satisfactory response to the treatment.


METHODS
Retrospective study.


METHODS
Nine academic medical centers in three countries.


METHODS
Three hundred twenty-seven women with diagnosed and staged endometriosis who were treated with at least 6 months of danazol or a GnRH-a and who experienced significant pain relief with therapy.


METHODS
None.


METHODS
Duration of pain relief after completion of treatment as determined by a patient-initiated report of pain recurrence or increase in pain severity requiring intervention.


RESULTS
The median time to the recurrence of pain was 6.1 months for patients treated with danazol and 5.2 months for patients treated with a GnRH-a.


CONCLUSIONS
Although there was a lack of uniformity in treatment effects across sites, the analyses have taken into account major covariant effects. The time to the recurrence of endometriosis-associated pain after danazol treatment was slightly longer than that after GnRH-a treatment.
University of Illinois College of Medicine, Rockford 61107, USA. jamesm@uic.edu
J D
JD
Miller
R W
RW
Shaw
R F
RF
Casper
J A
JA
Rock
E J
EJ
Thomas
W P
WP
Dmowski
E
E
Surrey
L R
LR
Malinak
K
K
Moghissi
D000328:Adult; D003613:Danazol / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004715:Endometriosis / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004965:Estrogen Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology*; D011966:Receptors, LHRH / Q000819:agonists*; D012008:Recurrence; D012189:Retrospective Studies
D004965:Estrogen Antagonists; D011966:Receptors, LHRH; D003613:Danazol