Intravenous indoprofen in the management of renal colic

Recent reports imply that the prostaglandin system is involved in the pathogenesis of pain due to renal colic, and prostaglandin-synthetase inhibitors have been proposed in the management of this condition. A dose-response study has therefore been performed in patients with renal colic, using two intravenous non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs, indoprofen and lysine acetylsalicylate (ASA). Seventy-five inpatients (15 per group) were treated with three dose levels of indoprofen (100, 200 and 400 mg) or two dose levels of ASA (500 and 1500 mg) according to a double-blind, randomized, parallel-group design. The patients scored their pain at 15, 30, 60, 120 and 180 minutes after treatment; they also assessed the overall efficacy of treatment by means of a visual analogue scale. The results showed that, in terms of mean pain score, there was a prompt analgesic response in each treatment group, higher effects being obtained with increasing dose levels of both drugs. However, the statistical prerequisites for calculating a potency ratio between the drugs under study were satisfied only for a few variables, in which cases the relative potency of indoprofen to ASA varied between 7.1 and 8.8. The analysis of the frequencies of response, on the other hand, revealed for indoprofen a significant dose-effect regression, the higher dose of this drug giving a complete or nearly complete relief of pain in the majority of patients.