Comparison of the analgesic effects of haloperidol with or without morphine in patients with acute renal colic: A randomized double-blind clinical trial study.

BACKGROUND

Given the increasing number of patients with acute renal colic, the present study examined the analgesic effects of haloperidol with or without morphine in order to find an effective method with fewer side effects for pain reduction in these patients.

METHOD

In the present randomized double-blind clinical trial study, patients with a pain severity score of above 3 were randomly divided into 2 equal groups: Group A received intravenous morphine and haloperidol, and Group B received intravenous morphine with normal saline. Pain severity was recorded at Times 0, 20, 40, and 60 min following the injections based on a visual pain analog scale (VPAS) from 0 to 10.

RESULTS

A total of 140 patients were included in this study. A comparison of the recorded pain severity scores did not show a significant difference between the 2 study groups (P = 0.38). The mean heart rate, the mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures, and the mean incidence rate of nausea and vomiting were not significantly different between Group A and Group B. The frequency of extrapyramidal side effects was 4.3% in the haloperidol group, which was not significantly different from that of the other group. The frequency of extra analgesic requirement was not significantly different between the 2 groups (P = 0.05).

CONCLUSION

In our patients with acute renal colic, haloperidol failed to reduce pain and the incidence of nausea or vomiting, while it caused extrapyramidal side effects. Therefore, the prescription of this medication for acute pains, especially in renal colic, is not recommended.