Received December 15, 2017
Accepted October 02, 2018

Objectives: Primary dysmenorrhea is a painful uterine contraction caused by endometrial laceration. Chemical therapeutics and complementary medicine are used to treat dysmenorrhea. The aim of this study is to investigate and introduce updates of dysmenorrheal treatments. Methods: The present study was conducted in accordance with PRISMA checklist for systematic Reviews and meta-analyses. The required information was collected by searching for the key words: treatment, primary dysmenorrhea, medicinal plants, chemical drugs and herbs in the databases of Pubmed, Web of Sciences, Scopus, Iran medex and SID until March 2018. Search was done to access the English and Persian literature on this subject without time limitation. Results: 17 articles were reviewed in the study, including 10 studies on complementary medicine, 3 studies on chemical drugs and 4 studies for acupuncture and acupressure studies. The largest sample size was 303 and the smallest sample size was 24 patients who were in the clinical trials. The length of the treatment period varied from one to six months and the most commonly used measure in the studies was visual analogue scale and clinical efficacy. There were reports of complications such as gastrointestinal complications, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, liver and kidney disorders. Conclusion: Medicinal plants, chemical drugs, and acupressure seem to suppress the state of the pain by reducing the level of prostaglandins, mediating nitric oxide, increasing beta-endorphin levels, calcium channel block and circulatory flow through the uterine pathway. However, in order to ensure the benefits of procedures and the absence of complications, clinical trials are recommended