Ref (type)	Population	Outcome, Interventions	Results and statistical analysis	Effect size	Favours
Pain
Systematic review	73 women Data from 1 RCT	Pain intensity (assessed by visual analogue scale, scale not defined) 3.17 with mefenamic acid (500 mg three times daily) 2.94 with tolfenamic acid (200 mg three times daily)	WMD +0.23 95% CI –0.64 to +1.10		Not significant
Systematic review	304 women Data from 1 RCT	Proportion of women with pain relief 125/155 (81%) with diclofenac (50 mg up to 3 times daily as required) 128/149 (86%) with nimesulide (100 mg up to 3 times daily as required)	OR 0.69 95% CI 0.38 to 1.25		Not significant
Systematic review	81 women Data from 1 RCT	Proportion of women with pain relief 14/40 (35%) with ibuprofen (up to a maximum daily dose of 1200 mg) 20/41 (49%) with naproxen sodium (up to a maximum daily dose of 660 mg)	OR 0.57 95% CI 0.23 to 1.38		Not significant
RCT Crossover design 5-armed trial	104 women with primary dysmenorrhoea	Time to pain relief 56 minutes with ibuprofen arginate 400 mg 90 minutes with conventional ibuprofen 200 mg	P <0.05	Effect size not calculated	ibuprofen arginate 400 mg
RCT Crossover design 5-armed trial	104 women with primary dysmenorrhoea	Time to pain relief 56 minutes with ibuprofen arginate 400 mg 86 minutes with conventional ibuprofen 400 mg	P <0.05	Effect size not calculated	ibuprofen arginate 400 mg
RCT Crossover design 5-armed trial	104 women with primary dysmenorrhoea	Time to remedication with ibuprofen arginate 200 mg or 400 mg with conventional ibuprofen 200 mg or 400 mg Absolute results not reported	Reported no significant difference between all active treatments (P >0.05)		Not significant
RCT Crossover design 3-armed trial	73 women with moderate to severe primary dysmenorrhoea	Pain, assessed by mean TOTPAR-8 score over 8 hours 20.0 units with etoricoxib (120 mg, taken at the onset of painful menses) 21.5 units with naproxen sodium (550 mg, taken at the onset of painful menses)	P = 0.33		Not significant
RCT 3-armed trial	337 women with primary dysmenorrhoea	Proportion of women who rated treatment as good over 3 to 5 days and 3 menstrual cycles 43/100 (43%) with meloxicam 7.5 mg daily 44/104 (42%) with meloxicam 15 mg daily 37/104 (35%) with mefenamic acid (500 mg three times daily)	P value for all groups v each other reported as not significant		Not significant