2021, Number 2
<< Back Next >>
Arch Med 2021; 21 (2)
Non-hormonal treatment of genitourinary syndrome of menopause
Espitia-de-la-Hoz Franklin-José
Language: Spanish
References: 73
Page: 509-522
PDF size: 764.17 Kb.
ABSTRACT
The genitourinary syndrome of menopause (SGUM) describes the symptoms and signs of the vulvo-vaginal and lower urinary tract, of a chronic and progressive nature, secondary to a clinical state of hypoestrogenism that characterizes postmenopause. The present review aims to describe and analyze the different non-hormone therapeutic alternatives, with their advantages and disadvantages, in order to offer readers a full range of options when establishing treatment in a woman with SGUM. A database search, including original research, expert con-sensus, systematic reviews and meta-analysis. The current evidence for various pharmacological and non-pharmacological (non-hormonal) therapeutic modalities has been reviewed, finding that moisturizers and lubricants are the first line of therapy to provide short-term relief of vaginal dryness (mild to moderate) and dyspareunia; however, treatment must be individualized. It is concluded that there are numerous treatments available, each with benefits and limitations. Substantial gaps in the scientific evidence for safe and effective therapies are highlighted, as well as the need for future research.
REFERENCES
Portman DJ, Gass ML. Genitourinary syndrome of menopause: new terminology for vulvovagi-nal atrophy from the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health and The North American Menopause Society. Menopau-se. 2014; 21(10):1063–8. DOI: 10.1097/GME.0000000000000329
Espitia-De La Hoz FJ, Orozco-Gallego H. Estriol vs estrógenos conjugados de origen equino en el tratamiento del síndrome genitourinario de la menopausia. Ginecol Obstet Mex. 2018; 86(2):117-26. https://doi.org/10.24245/gom.v86i2.1881
Moral E, Delgado JL, Carmona F, Caballero B, Guillán C, González PM, et al. Genitourinary syndrome of menopause. Prevalence and quality of life in Spanish postmenopausal women. The GENISSE study. Climacteric. 2018; 21(2):167-73. https://doi.org/10.1080/13697137.2017.1421921
Nappi RE, Kokot-Kierepa M. Vaginal health: insights, views and attitudes (VIVA) – results from an international survey.Climacteric. 2012; 15(1):36–44. https://doi.org/10.3109/13697137.2011.647840
Espitia-De La Hoz FJ. Prevalence of genitourinary syndrome of menopause and impact on sexuality of women in Quindío (Colombia), 2013-2016.Rev Colomb Obstet Ginecol. 2018; 69(4):249-259. http://dx.doi.org/10.18597/rcog.3111
The North American Menopause Society. The 2020 genitourinary syndrome of menopause position statement of The North American Menopause Society. Menopause. 2020; 27(9):976-992. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/GME.0000000000001609
Stumpf PG, Trolice MP. Compliance problems with hormone replacement therapy. Obstet Gynecol Clin North Am. 1994; 21(2):219-229.
Espitia-De La Hoz FJ, Orozco-Gallego H. Abordaje diagnóstico y terapéutico del síndrome genitou-rinario en la menopausia; actualización. Rev Med UCR. 2017; 11(2):67-84. https://doi.org/10.15517/rmucr.v11i2.34580
Palacios S, Mejía A, Neyro JL. Treatment of the genitourinary syndrome of menopause. Climac-teric. 2015; 18 (Suppl 1):23-29. http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/13697137.2015.1079100
Gandhi J, Chen A, Dagur G, Suh Y, Smith N, Cali B, et al. Genitourinary syndrome of menopause: an overview of clinical manifestations, pathophysio-logy, etiology, evaluation, and management. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2016; 215(6):704-711. DOI: 10.1016/j.ajog.2016.07.045
Leiblum S, Bachmann G, Kemmann E, Colburn D, Swartzman L. Vaginal atrophy in the postmeno-pausal woman. The importance of sexual acti-vity and hormones. JAMA. 1983; 249(16):2195-2198.
Mercier J, Morin M, Zaki D, Reichetzer B, Lemieux MC, Khalifé S, et al. Pelvic floor muscle training as a treatment for genitourinary syndrome of menopause: A single-arm feasibility study. Ma-turitas. 2019; 125:57-62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.maturitas.2019.03.002
Edwards D, Panay N. Treating vulvovaginal atrophy/genitourinary syndrome of menopau-se: how important is vaginal lubricant and moisturizer composition?Climacteric. 2016; 19(2):151-161. https://doi.org/10.3109/13697137.2015.1124259
Bygdeman M, Swahn ML. Replens versus die-noestrol cream in the symptomatic treatment of vaginal atrophy in postmenopausal women. Maturitas. 1996; 23(3):259-263. https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-5122(95)00955-8
Nachtigall LE. Comparative study: Replens versus local estrogen in menopausal women. Fertil Steril. 1994; 61(1):178-180. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0015-0282(16)56474-7
Jozkowski KN, Herbenick D, Schick V, Reece M, Sanders SA, Fortenberry JD. Women’s percep-tions about lubricant use and vaginal wetness during sexual activities. J Sex Med. 2013; 10(2):484-492. https://doi.org/10.1111/jsm.12022
Hickey M, Saunders C, Partridge A, Santoro N, Jo-ffe H, Stearns V. Practical clinical guidelines for assessing and managing menopausal symptoms after breast cancer. Ann Oncol. 2008; 19(10):1669-1680. https://doi.org/10.1093/annonc/mdn353
Lester J, Pahouja G, Andersen B, Lustberg M. Atrophic vaginitis in breast cancer survivors: a difficult survivorship issue. J Pers Med. 2015; 5(2):50-66. https://doi.org/10.3390/jpm5020050
Tomihata K, Ikada Y. Crosslinking of hyaluronic acid with water-soluble carbodiimide. J Biomed Mater Res. 1997; 37(2):243-251. https://doi.org/10.1002/(sici)1097-4636(199711)37:2<243::aid-jbm14>3.0.co;2-f
Chen J, Geng L, Song X, Li H, Giordan N, Liao Q. Evaluation of the efficacy and safety of hyaluronic acid vaginal gel to ease vaginal dryness: a multicenter, randomized, controlled, open-label, parallel-group, clinical trial. J Sex Med. 2013; 10(6):1575-1584. https://doi.org/10.1111/jsm.12125Literatura citada
Jokar A, Davari T, Asadi N, Ahmadi F, Foruhari S. Comparison of the Hyaluronic Acid Vagi-nal Cream and Conjugated Estrogen Used in Treatment of Vaginal Atrophy of Menopause Wo-men: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial. Int J Community Based Nurs Midwifery. 2016; 4(1):69-78.
Espitia-De La Hoz FJ; Orozco-Gallego H; Echeverri-Ocampo L. Terapia hormonal y no hormonal en la vaginitis atrófica posmenopáusica: cura y satisfacción a mediano y a largo plazo de los sín-tomas. Rev. Col. De Menopausia. 2016; 22(1):8-17.
Mitchell CM, Guthrie KA, Larson J, Diem S, La-Croix AZ, Caan B, et al. Sexual frequency and pain in a randomized clinical trial of vaginal estradiol tablets, moisturizer, and placebo in postmenopausal women. Menopause. 2019; 26(8):816-822. https://doi.org/10.1097/GME.0000000000001341
Grimaldi EF, Restaino S, Inglese S, Foltran L, Sorz A, Di Lorenzo G, et al. Role of high molecular weight hyaluronic acid in postmenopausal vaginal discomfort. Minerva Ginecol. 2012; 64(4):321-329
Ekin M, Yaşar L, Savan K, Temur M, Uhri M, Gen-cer I, et al. The comparison of hyaluronic acid vaginal tablets with estradiol vaginal tablets in the treatment of atrophic vaginitis: a randomi-zed controlled trial. Arch Gynecol Obstet. 2011; 283(3):539-543. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-010-1382-8
Boselli F, Petrella E, Campedelli A, Muzi M, Rullo V, Ascione L, et al. Efficacy and tolerability of fitostimoline (vaginal cream, ovules, and vaginal washing) and of benzydamine hydrochloride (tantum rosa vaginal cream and vaginal washing) in the topical treatment of symptoms of bacterial vaginosis. ISRN Obstet Gynecol. 2012; 2012:1-5. https://doi.org/10.5402/2012/183403
Sanguigno L, Minale M, Vannini E, Arato G, Riccio R, Casapullo A, et al. Oligosaccharidic fractions derived from Triticum vulgare extract accelerate tissutal repairing processes in in vitro and in vivo models of skin lesions. J Ethnopharmacol. 2015; 159:198-208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2014.10.051
D’Agostino A, Pirozzi AVA, Finamore R, Grieco F, Minale M, Schiraldi C. Molecular Mechanisms at the Basis of Pharmaceutical Grade Triticum vul-gare Extract Efficacy in Prompting Keratinocytes Healing. Molecules. 2020; 25(3):1-14. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25030431
Sanguigno L, Casamassa A, Funel N, Minale M, Riccio R, Riccio S, et al. Triticum vulgare extract exerts an anti-inflammatory action in two in vitro models of inflammation in microglial cells. PLOS ONE. 2018; 13(6):1-7. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0197493
Funel N, Dini V, Janowska A, Loggini V, Minale M, Grieco F, et al. Triticum vulgare extract modulates protein-kinase b and matrix metalloproteinases 9 protein expression in bv-2 cells: Bioactivity on inflammatory pathway associated with mo-lecular mechanism wound healing. Mediators of Inflammation. 2020; 2020: 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/2851949
Antonucci I, Fiorentino G, Contursi P, Minale M, Riccio R, Riccio S, et al. Antioxidant Capacity of Rigenase®, a Specific Aqueous Extract of Triti-cum vulgare. Antioxidants (Basel). 2018; 7(5):1-6. https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox7050067
Boselli F, Petrella E, Campedelli A, Muzi M, Rullo V, Ascione L, et al. Efficacy and Tolerability of Fitostimoline (Vaginal Cream, Ovules, and Vagi-nalWashing) and of Benzydamine Hydrochloride (Tantum Rosa Vaginal Cream and VaginalWas-hing) in the Topical Treatment of Symptoms of Bacterial Vaginosis. ISRN Obstetrics and Gyne-cology. 2012; 2012:1-5. https://doi.org/10.5402/2012/183403
Parihar A, Parihar MS, Milner S, Bhat S. Oxidative stress and anti-oxidative mobilization in burn injury. Burns. 2008; 34(1):6-17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.burns.2007.04.009
Coutiño-Mata JJ, Cuenca-Pardo J, Álvarez-Díaz CJ, Villaseñor Ferreira A. Manejo de las áreas dona-doras de injertos de piel tratadas con gasa con Triticum vulgare vs gasa con petrolato. Cirugía Plástica. 2002; 12(2):61-64.
Romanelli M, Macchia M, Panduri S, Paggi B, Saponati-Dini V. Clinical evaluation of the efficacy and safety of a medical device in various forms containing Triticum vulgare for the treatment of venous leg ulcers - a randomized pilot study. Drug Des Devel Ther. 2015; 9:2787-2792. https://doi.org/10.2147/DDDT.S82712
Martini P, Mazzatenta C, Saponati G. Efficacy and tolerability of fitostimoline in two different forms (soaked gauzes and cream) and citrizan gel in the topical treatment of second-degree superficial cutaneous burns. Dermatol Res Pract. 2011; 2011:1-9. https://doi.org/10.1155/2011/978291
Mollica G, Bonaccorsi G, Martinello R. Evaluation of efficacy and tolerability of Fitostimoline vaginal cream (Damor Farmaceutici) in the treatment of vaginal inflammation and vulvar dystrophy: A double-blind randomized controlled trial. Gazzetta Medica Italiana Archivio per le Scienze Mediche. 2008; 167(3):87-95.
Mainini G. Treatment of Vaginal Atrophy with the Aqueous Extract of Triticum vulgare: Compari-son between Different Pharmaceutical Forms. ARCH Women Health Care. 2020; 3(3):1-4.
Rashidi-Fakari F, Simbar M, Nasab MB, Ghazan-farpour M, Rashidi-Fakari F. A Review of Phar-macological Treatments for Vaginal Atrophy in Postmenopausal Women in Iran. J Menopausal Med. 2020; 26(2):104-111. https://doi.org/10.6118/jmm.19021
Ghazanfarpour M, Sadeghi R, Roudsari RL. The application of soy isoflavones for subjective symptoms and objective signs of vaginal atrophy in menopause: A systematic review of randomi-sed controlled trials. J Obstet Gynaecol. 2016; 36(2):160-171. https://doi.org/10.3109/01443615.2015.1036409
Bouchard C. Herbal alternatives as substitutes for hormone therapy in urogenital atrophy: scientific evidence is needed. Menopause. 2008; 15(1):12-13. https://doi.org/10.1097/gme.0b013e31815b7553
Reed SD, Newton KM, LaCroix AZ, Grothaus LC, Grieco VS, Ehrlich K. Vaginal, endometrial, and reproductive hormone findings: randomized, placebo-controlled trial of black cohosh, multi-botanical herbs, and dietary soy for vasomotor symptoms: the Herbal Alternatives for Menopau-se (HALT) Study. Menopause. 2008; 15(1):51-58. DOI: 10.1097/gme.0b013e318057787f
Castelo-Branco C, Hernández-Angeles LCE. Síndro-me genitourinario de la menopausia: revisión. Rev. Col. De Menopausia. 2015; 21(2):25-36.
Sandhu RS, Wong TH, Kling CA, Chohan KR. In vitro effects of coital lubricants and synthetic and natural oils on sperm motility. Fertil Steril. 2014; 101(4):941-944. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fertnstert.2013.12.024
Brown JM, Hess KL, Brown S, Murphy C, Waldman AL, Hezareh M. Intravaginal practices and risk of bacterial vaginosis and candidiasis infection among a cohort of women in the United States. Obstet Gynecol. 2013; 121(4):773-780. https://doi.org/10.1097/AOG.0b013e31828786f8
Sarebani Z, Alimoradi Z, Aali E, Mirzadeh M, Chegini V, Abbaspour M, et al. Investigating the effect of vitamin D vaginal suppository on sexual function among postmenopausal women: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. BMC Women’s Health. 2020; 20(27):1-8. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-020-00899-6
Lee A, Lee MR, Lee HH, Kim YS, Kim JM, Enkhbold T, et al. Vitamin D Proliferates Vaginal Epithelium through RhoA Expression in Postmenopausal Atrophic Vagina tissue. Molecules and Cells. 2017; 40(9):677-684. https://doi.org/10.14348/molcells.2017.0026
Riazi H, Ghazanfarpour M, Taebi M, Abdolahian S. Effect of Vitamin D on the Vaginal Health of Menopausal Women: A Systematic Review. J Menopausal Med. 2019; 25(3):109-116. https://doi.org/10.6118/jmm.19194
Rad P, Tadayon M, Abbaspour M, Latifi SM, Rashidi I, Delaviz H. The effect of vitamin D on vaginal atrophy in postmenopausal women. Iran J Nurs Midwifery Res. 2015; 20(2):211-215.
Keshavarzi Z, Janghorban R, Alipour S, Tahmasebi S, Jokar A. The effect of vitamin D and E vagi-nal suppositories on tamoxifen-induced vaginal atrophy in women with breast cancer. Support Care Cancer. 2019; 27(4):1325-1334. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-019-04684-6
Ziagham S, Abbaspour Z, Abbaspour MR. The comparison betweenthe effects of hyaluronic acid vaginal suppository and vitamin E on the treatment of atrophic vaginitis in menopausal women. J Arak Uni Med Sci. 2012; 15(6):57-64.
Angelou K, Grigoriadis T, Diakosavvas M, Zacharakis D, Athanasiou S. The Genitourinary Syndrome of Menopause: An Overview of the Recent Data. Cureus. 2020; 12(4):1-9. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.7586
Costantino D, Guaraldi C. Effectiveness and safety of vaginal suppositories for the treatment of the vaginal atrophy in postmenopausal women: an open, non-controlled clinical trial. Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci. 2008; 12(6):411-416.
Parnan-Emamverdikhan A, Golmakani N, Tabassi SA, Hassanzadeh M, Sharifi N, Shakeri MT. A survey of the therapeutic effects of Vitamin E suppositories on vaginal atrophy in postmeno-pausal women. Iran J Nurs Midwifery Res. 2016; 21(5):475-481. https://doi.org/10.4103/1735-9066.193393
Golmakani N, Parnan-Emamverdikhan A, Zarifian A, Sajadi-Tabassi SA, Hassanzadeh M. Vitamin E as alternative local treatment in genitourinary syn-drome of menopause: a randomized controlled trial. Int Urogynecol J. 2019; 30(5):831-837. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-018-3698-z
Hobson R. Vitamin E and wound healing: an evi-dence-based review. Int Wound J. 2016; 13(3):331-335. https://doi.org/10.1111/iwj.12295
The North American Menopause Society. Manage-ment of symptomatic vulvovaginal atrophy: 2013 position statement of The North American Meno-pause Society. Menopause. 2013; 20(9):888-902.https://doi.org/10.1097/GME.0b013e3182a122c2
Goetsch MF, Lim JY, Caughey AB. A Practical Solu-tion for Dyspareunia in Breast Cancer Survivors: A Randomized Controlled Trial. J Clin Oncol. 2015; 33(30):3394-3400. https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.2014.60.7366
Arunkalaivanan A, Kaur H, Onuma O. Laser the-rapy as a treatment modality for genitourinary syndrome of menopause: a critical appraisal of evidence. Int Urogynecol J. 2017; 28(5):681-685. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-017-3282-y
Cruz VL, Steiner ML, Pompei LM, Strufaldi R, Fonseca FLA, Santiago LHS, et al. Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial for evaluating the efficacy of fractional CO2 laser compared with topical estriol in the treatment of vaginal atrophy in postmenopausal women. Menopause. 2018; 25(1):21-28. https://doi.org/10.1097/GME.0000000000000955
Sokol ER, Karram MM. An assessment of the safety and efficacy of a fractional CO2 laser system for the treatment of vulvovaginal atrophy. Menopause. 2016; 23(10):1102-1107. https://doi.org/10.1097/GME.000000000000070
Filippini M, Luvero D, Salvatore S, Pieralli A, Mon-tera R, Plotti F, et al. Efficacy of fractional CO2 laser treatment in postmenopausal women with genitourinary syndrome: a multicenter study. Menopause. 2020; 27(1):43-49. https://doi.org/10.1097/GME.0000000000001428
Millheiser LS, Pauls RN, Herbst SJ, Chen BH. Ra-diofrequency treatment of vaginal laxity after vaginal delivery: nonsurgical vaginal tightening. J Sex Med. 2010; 7(9):3088-3095. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1743-6109.2010.01910.x
Wańczyk-Baszak J, Woźniak S, Milejski B, Paszkows-ki T. Genitourinary syndrome of menopause treatment using lasers and temperature-contro-lled radiofrequency. Prz Menopauza lny. 2018; 17(4):180-184. https://doi.org/10.5114/pm.2018.81743
Espitia-De La Hoz FJ. Efficacy and tolerance of policresulen in the treatment of the genitourinary syndrome of menopause. Int J Fam Commun Med. 2019; 3(3):132-136. https://doi.org/10.15406/ijfcm.2019.03.00145
Espitia-De La Hoz FJ. Efectividad y seguridad del policresuleno en el tratamiento del síndrome genitourinario de la menopausia. Estudio contro-lado y aleatorizado. Arch Med (Manizales). 2020; 20(2):282-294. https://doi.org/10.30554/archmed.20.2.3756
Kechagia M, Basoulis D, Konstantopoulou S, Di-mitriadi D, Gyftopoulou K, Skarmoutsou N, et al. Health benefits of probiotics: a review. ISRN Nutr. 2013; 2013:1-8. https://doi.org/10.5402/2013/481651
Falagas ME, Betsi GI, Athanasiou S. Probiotics for the treatment of women with bacterial vagi-nosis. Clin Microbiol Infect. 2007; 13(7):657-664. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-0691.2007.01688.x
Muhleisen AL, Herbst-Kralovetz MM. Menopause and the vaginal microbiome. Maturitas. 2016; 91:42-50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.maturitas.2016.05.015
Pushkar D, Gvozdev MY. Dynamics of symptoms of genitourinary menopausal syndrome and the frequency of recurrence of lower urinary tract infection in women in peri-and postme-nopausal patients with combined therapy with Trioginal. Gynecology. 2018; 20(6):67-72. https://doi.org/10.26442/20795696.2018.6.180119
Kuzmenko-Kuzmenko AV, Kuzmenko-Kuzmenko VV, Gyaurgiev-Gyaurgiev TA. Experience of application of hormonal and probiotic therapy in the complex treatment of women in peri- and postmenopausal with chronic recurrent bacte-rial cystitis in the background of vulvovaginal atrophy. Urologia. 2019; 3:66-71. DOI: 10.18565/urology.2019.3.66-71
The NAMS 2017 Hormone Therapy Position State-ment Advisory Panel. The 2017 hormone therapy position statement of The North American Meno-pause Society. Menopause. 2017; 24(7):728-753. https://doi.org/10.1097/GME.0000000000000921
Palacios S, Cancelo-Hidalgo MJ, González SP, Manubens M, Sánchez-Borrego R. Síndrome geni-tourinario de la menopausia: recomendaciones de la Sociedad Española de Ginecología y Obste-tricia. Prog Obstet Ginecol. 2019; 62(2):141-148. https://doi.org/10.20960/j.pog.00182