Supplementary Material for: Herbal treatment of female urogenital atrophy: A retrospective cohort analysis

Background: Urogenital atrophy and its sequelae, particularly genital dry-ness, urological problems, and pain on genital touching, are common medi-cal problems for menopausal women and women undergoing antihormonal cancer treatment. To meet the requirements for a nonhormonal local treatment, a compounded herbal preparation was developed as a vaginal ovule (Dioscorea comp. ovulum), and the efficacy and applicability of this herbal treatment were investigated. Patients and Methods: This was a retrospective chart review of patients’ records. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Canton of Zurich (project number BASEC 2016-01982). Between 2007 and 2011, patients with urogenital atrophy and related symptoms, who wanted to initiate herbal treatment, were asked for consent to be interviewed (4-point rating scale) and examined gynecologi-cally with photo documentation of their vaginal discharge. A total of 26 pa-tients met the enrollment criteria and consented to the procedure. Treat-ment: The first 8 weeks consisted of a daily application of low-dose Di-oscorea comp. ovulum followed by high-dose Dioscorea comp. ovule twice weekly for at least 3 months. Result: A total of 23 patients completed the trial. Of the 19 patients in the subgroup with an atrophic vaginal maturation index (VMI), 16 achieved a eutrophic VMI. Four patients began therapy with hypotrophy. There was a 96% decrease in complaints (22/23). The genital dryness score decreased from 1.80 to 0.25 points, urological prob-lems from 2.38 to 0.85 points, and pain on genital touching from 1.70 to 0.60 points. Application, tolerability, and medical safety of the formula were good. Conclusion: The phytotherapeutic compounded preparation Di-oscorea comp. ovule (Dioscorea villosa, Glycine max, Salvia officinalis) is suitable for the treatment of urogenital atrophy and its sequelae.
A preprint version of the study has been available since July 16, 2020 on www.authorea.com [DOI: 10.22541/au.159493095.52457248].