Pain Relief for Acute Urolithiasis: The Case for Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs.

Pain from renal colic is often severe and incapacitating. Many patients require emergent hospitalization and aggressive analgesia to relieve such discomfort. For many years, the optimal analgesic strategy has been sought to manage such severe pain. One of the mainstays of therapy for acute renal colic is with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). This paper reviews the mechanism by which NSAIDs allow pain relief in renal colic, the evidence for their use in this condition, and the use of NSAIDs combined with other agents in renal colic.