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Acute ureteric colic is thought to be produced by a calculus producing back pressure in kidneys and by increased production of prostaglandins. There is no ideal drug for acute ureteric colic as responses to various analgesic/ antispasmodic drugs vary between patients. This study was designed to assess the role of parenteral diclofenac sodium in the treatment of this painful condition.

Several unwarranted investigations are usually performed in patients with acute ureteric colic owing to suspected stones in the urinary tract. The present study was undertaken to identify the efficacy of ultrasonographic scanning (USS) as an alternative to emergency intravenous urogram (IVU) in such patients. 150 patients attending the stone clinic with acute ureteric colic formed the test group, while 50 other patients with acute ureteric colic formed the control group. In the test group, all patients had a plain X-ray of the kidney, ureters and bladder (KUB) and USS done. In the control group, an IVU was performed. The advantages of using two approaches in deciding treatment were evaluated.

Ureteric colic is a painful emergency. This paper examines the relative benefits of plain x-rays of the kidney/ureter/bladder (KUB) region and pyelograms in an emergency setting.

The management of pain from ureteric colic (UC) has depended until now upon antispasmodic agents (AA) and, if ineffective, opiates. However, the high failure rate with AA and the risk attached to opiates makes this approach inadvisable. It has recently been proposed that UC be treated with indomethacin1, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), which inhibits PG biosynthesis thereby counteracting the effects of PGE2 on ureteric wall tone and glomerular filtration rate, both of which increase the pressure above the stone and evoke pain2,3.