Ketorolac for Renal Colic

Key Message

What Is the Issue?

• Renal colic is a common problem that is primarily caused by kidney stones. Renal colic, specifically kidney stones, can be a recurrent condition that can negatively impact a person's quality of life and health system utilization.
• Ketorolac through IV or intramuscular routes is a common nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) used in hospital to treat renal colic. Oral ketorolac for the management of renal colic may reduce patients' need for opioids after discharge but it is unclear if it is clinically effective when compared to alternative analgesics or whether it is recommended for use in the management of people with renal colic.

What Did We Do?

• To inform decisions about oral ketorolac for the management of outpatients with renal colic, we sought to identify and summarize literature comparing the clinical effectiveness of oral ketorolac and alternative analgesics. We also searched for evidence-based guidelines that provide recommendations about the use of oral ketorolac for the management of people with renal colic.
• A research information specialist conducted literature searches of peer-reviewed and grey literature sources published between January 1, 2013, and December 4, 2023. The search was limited to English-language documents. One reviewer screened articles for inclusion based on predefined criteria.

What Did We Find?

• The tailored search for this rapid review did not find any studies evaluating the clinical effectiveness of oral ketorolac versus alternative analgesics for the management of people with renal colic in outpatient settings that met our criteria for this review. There is therefore no specific evidence available on the efficacy oral ketorolac in the management of renal colic in the community setting in this review.
• We did not find any eligible evidence-based guidelines concerning the use of oral ketorolac for the management of people with renal colic in outpatient settings. NSAIDs have been generally mentioned as an option for renal colic in the available guidance.
• Research regarding ketorolac for renal colic published since 2013 has focused on IV or intramuscular administration. Research regarding oral ketorolac focused on indications other than renal colic (e.g., postoperative pain) may be of interest; these are listed in the appendix. These studies suggest the effectiveness of ketorolac for pain management for other indications, such as pain management following endoscopy.

What Does It Mean?

• Without comparative evidence, decision-makers may want to consider how oral ketorolac is used for related indications (e.g., procedures for removing kidney stones, ureteroscopies) to examine how it performed compared with alternative analgesics.
• Research focused on the management of renal colic is needed to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of oral ketorolac and inform guidance concerning oral ketorolac in outpatient settings.