Intracutaneous sterile water injection versus oral paracetamol for renal colic during pregnancy: a randomized controlled trial

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the analgesic efficacy of intracutaneous sterile water injection compared with oral paracetamol in pregnant women with acute renal colic caused by urolithiasis. The study included 45 patients randomized into two different groups: Group A (n = 24) received paracetamol (1,000 mg, oral), while group B (n = 21) received sterile water injections. The severity of pain was assessed by a visual analogue scale (VAS) system at baseline and at 15, 30 min, and 1 h after administering the treatments. Subjects with inadequate pain relief at 1 h received rescue analgesia. The VAS values prior to the start of therapy and 15, 30 min, and 1 h after therapy were 85.42 ± 10.62, 69.17 ± 8.3, 45.42 ± 12.5, and 32.08 ± 14.44 for the paracetamol group, while for the sterile water injection group, the VAS values were 90.48 ± 11.17, 30.95 ± 16.7, 14.76 ± 11.23, and 10.48 ± 8.65, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference between the starting VAS values of the two groups, but the VAS values 15, 30 min, and 1 h after paracetamol administration were statistically less in the group that received sterile water injections. Rescue analgesics at 1 h were required by eight subjects (33 %) receiving paracetamol and one subject (5 %) receiving sterile water injection. Intracutaneous injection of sterile water is an efficacious treatment for renal colic caused by urolithiasis in pregnant women. It was significantly superior to oral administration of paracetamol.