Therapeutic Approaches for Renal Colic in the Emergency Department: A Review Article

CONTEXT Renal colic is frequently described as the worst pain ever experienced, and management of this intense pain is necessary. The object of our review was to discuss different approaches of pain control for patients with acute renal colic in the emergency department. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION Studies that discussed the treatment of renal colic pain were included in this review. We collected articles from reputable internet databases. RESULTS Our study showed that some new treatment approaches, such as the use of lidocaine or nerve blocks, can be used to control the severe and persistent pain of renal colic. CONCLUSIONS Some new approaches are discussed and their impact on renal colic pain control was compared with traditional therapies. The effectiveness of the new approaches in this review is similar or even better than in traditional treatments.