Efficacy and Safety of Parecoxib in the Treatment of Acute Renal Colic: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Few clinical studies have evaluated the use of parecoxib in acute pain due to renal colic. The objective of this study is to compare the analgesic efficacy of intravenously injected parecoxib (40 mg) versus intramuscularly injected pethidine (50 mg) in reducing pain during acute renal colic attacks. This prospectively randomized controlled trial was conducted from January 2010 to December 2012. All patients visited the emergency room or outpatient clinic for acute renal colic based on their signs and symptoms, were eligible: of 212 patients, 88 were in the pethidine group, and 89 patients were in the parecoxib group. Patients with acute renal colic, were assigned to the intramuscular pethidine (50 mg) group or to the intravenous parecoxib (40 mg) group. All patients completed the validated verbal rating scale (VRS) and visual analogue scale (VAS) before the treatment (T0) and 30 (T30) and 60 min (T60) after the drug injection. The primary outcome was the analgesic efficacy of parecoxib (40 mg) intravenous injections versus pethidine (50 mg) intramuscular injections. There were significant differences between the treatment groups with regard to VRS and VAS scores at all time points. There was no comparison to a group receiving placebo therapy. It was concluded that intravenous parecoxib is both more effective than conventional intramuscular pethidine and more potent with a longer analgesic effect.