Comparison of the Efficacy of Intravenous Ketorolac to that of Intravenous Pethidine in Pain Suppression in Patients with Biliary Colic

Aim: The study aimed to compare the effect of intravenous administration of the NSAID (Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) ketorolac to that of intravenous administration of the opioid pethidine in the suppression of pain in patients with biliary colic.

Methodology: The present study is a trial study. Among all the biliary colic patients in Mashhad Referral Hospital Emergency in Iran, 58 patients with inclusion criteria were selected using convenience sampling. They were randomly divided into two groups of 29 patients. In the first group, 1 mg/kg IV pethidine, and in the second group, 30 mg IV ketorolac was injected. The pain severity was assessed prior to the treatment and 15, 30, and 60 minutes after the onset of the treatment using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). The data were analyzed using SPSS 20 and Chi-square tests.

Findings: The patients' mean age was 45±15 years old (age ranged from 30 to 60 years old). The results showed no significant relationship between pain suppression and medicine type after 15 minutes (P=0.5), 30 minutes (P=0.6), and 1 hour (P=0.7). It means that pethidine and ketorolac have an equal effect on pain suppression in patients with biliary colic. Also, the more time passes from the injection, the more the medicines suppress pain.

Conclusion: the results of this study show that the efficacy of NSAIDs in the suppression of moderate to severe pain; therefore, a plan to use NSAIDs instead of narcotics for this purpose is essential.