Relief Efficacy of Lidocaine Versus Morphine for Acute Renal Colic in the Emergency Department

Summary

The opioid epidemic continues to be a major public health crisis in the United States. According to the Center for Disease Control, approximately 8 million Americans reported misusing prescription opioids in 2023, with over 5 million Americans reporting that they suffer from opioid use disorder. The United States government estimates that 105,000 people died from drug overdose in 2023, and approximately 80,000 of those deaths can be attributed to opioids (\~76%). In acknowledgement of the opioid crisis, we wish to contribute to ongoing efforts to reduce unnecessary and excessive opioid prescription. In 2012, researchers in Iran published a randomized controlled trial comparing intravenous (IV) lidocaine to IV morphine for acute renal colic, reporting that 90% patients responded "successfully" in the lidocaine group versus 70% in the morphine group. They also concluded that there was a statistically significant difference between pain scores between the two groups at all time points, favoring the lidocaine group. However, the study was conducted at a single emergency department in Tabriz, Iran, with a relatively homogenous patient population, and the researchers did not explicitly define their primary outcome variable for what constituted a "successful" response in the treatment groups. The investigators of this study aim to build upon this preliminary evidence by recruiting a more diverse population to improve generalizability and by predefining pain-reduction thresholds to allow for more meaningful comparison between the interventions.

Timeline

Start

2026-06

Primary completion

2027-06

Completion

2028-06

Publications

• Results Garnett MF, Minino AM. Drug Overdose Deaths in the United States, 2003-2023. NCHS Data Brief. 2024 Dec;(522):1. doi: 10.15620/cdc/170565.
• Results Krieger A, Zaidan N, Zhao P, Borin JF, Goldfarb DS. Questionable role of opioids for analgesia in renal colic and its urological interventions. BJUI Compass. 2025 Jun 11;6(6):e70038. doi: 10.1002/bco2.70038. eCollection 2025 Jun.
• Results Seyhan AU, Yilmaz E. Treatment of Renal Colic by Nerve Blockade with Lidocaine Versus Intravenous Dexketoprofen. J Coll Physicians Surg Pak. 2021 Aug;31(8):921-925. doi: 10.29271/jcpsp.2021.08.921.
• Results Motov S, Fassassi C, Drapkin J, Butt M, Hossain R, Likourezos A, Monfort R, Brady J, Rothberger N, Mann SS, Flom P, Gulati V, Marshall J. Comparison of intravenous lidocaine/ketorolac combination to either analgesic alone for suspected renal colic pain in the ED. Am J Emerg Med. 2020 Feb;38(2):165-172. doi: 10.1016/j.ajem.2019.01.048. Epub 2019 Jan 30.
• Results Motamed H, Maleki Verki M. Intravenous Lidocaine Compared to Fentanyl in Renal Colic Pain Management; a Randomized Clinical Trial. Emerg (Tehran). 2017;5(1):e82. doi: 10.22037/emergency.v5i1.18894. Epub 2017 Oct 23.
• Results Firouzian A, Alipour A, Rashidian Dezfouli H, Zamani Kiasari A, Gholipour Baradari A, Emami Zeydi A, Amini Ahidashti H, Montazami M, Hosseininejad SM, Yazdani Kochuei F. Does lidocaine as an adjuvant to morphine improve pain relief in patients presenting to the ED with acute renal colic? A double-blind, randomized controlled trial. Am J Emerg Med. 2016 Mar;34(3):443-8. doi: 10.1016/j.ajem.2015.11.062. Epub 2015 Dec 1.
• Results Soleimanpour H, Hassanzadeh K, Vaezi H, Golzari SE, Esfanjani RM, Soleimanpour M. Effectiveness of intravenous lidocaine versus intravenous morphine for patients with renal colic in the emergency department. BMC Urol. 2012 May 4;12:13. doi: 10.1186/1471-2490-12-13.
• Results Eaton SH, Cashy J, Pearl JA, Stein DM, Perry K, Nadler RB. Admission rates and costs associated with emergency presentation of urolithiasis: analysis of the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample 2006-2009. J Endourol. 2013 Dec;27(12):1535-8. doi: 10.1089/end.2013.0205. Epub 2013 Nov 19.

Drugs

Indications