Abstract
Introduction: Various therapies have been used to relieve or improve the urinary colic pain,
but many of these treatments have been limited due to side effects associated with the drugs. In
this regard, opioid drugs and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have a higher
priority than other treatments.
Objectives: The aim of the present study was to compare the level of pain relief from renal
stones after the administration of two types of NSAIDs, including intravenous ibuprofen
versus intravenous ketorolac.
Patients and Methods: In this clinical trial (identifier: IRCT20180108038276N1), 70 patients
with renal colic pain were randomly treated with intravenous ketorolac (30 mg, n = 35) or with
intravenous ibuprofen (800 mg, n = 35). The patient’s pain severity was assessed by the visual
analogue scaling (VAS) method before and 20 and also 60 minutes after interventions.
Results: Although pain severity considerably reduced within 60 minutes of prescribing
ibuprofen and ketorolac, the trend of the change in pin score was not different between the
two groups (P = 0.734). We found no significant difference in appearance of some side effects
including nausea and vomiting, requiring use of ondansetron, need to prescribe additional
analgesics. However epigastric pain and need to administrating H2 blockers were not revealed
in the group receiving ketorolac, but these complications were found in 25.7% of the patients
received ibuprofen indicating a significant difference (P = 0.002).
Conclusion: A single dose administration of both intravenous ketorolac and ibuprofen
is associated with significant improvement in renal colic pain within one hour after
administration. However, due to the lower incidence of gastrointestinal complications in the
administration of ketorolac compared to ibuprofen, the use of ketorolac in treatment and relief
of renal colic pains is preferable.