Comparing the Effect of Intravenous Morphine and Injectable Acetaminophen on Renal Colic Patients Presenting to the Emergency Department: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Kidney stone is one of the common diseases of human society which is demonstrated in the form of renal colic. Evidences indicate that renal colic is one of the mot painful conditions that require urgent pain relief treatment.

Patients suffering from renal colic do not usually recover from pain by using oral pain killers or rectal suppositories. Hence, a considerable percentage of these patients are admitted to the emergency department. A bothering and sharp pain is the most common characteristics of renal colic pain that wakes the patient up in the middle of the night. To achieve more relief, patients somehow take unusual positions such as squatting.

What are normally used as pain relievers in emergency department are Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and intravenous Opioids. However, both of these classes of drugs have many side effects.

Another point in this regard which is worthy to be mentioned is that some patients with renal colic complaint are drug addicted, so we have to administer higher dosage of analgesic drugs. According to the statistics provided by the US National Library website, the prevalence of kidney stones around the world in 2005 has been averagely around 140.1% which is considerable. This issue suggests more attention to the field of prevention and treatment.

According to the statistics of kidney stones incidence in Iran, 2.4 out of every 1000 people suffer from this pathologic condition whereas it differs from 0.5 to 2 in every 1000 ones in other countries.