Adding Tamsulosin Does Not Aid Ureteral Stone Passage

Adding tamsulosin to ibuprofen and oxycodone does not improve outcomes in patients treated for ureteral stones in the emergency department (ED), researchers reported in Annals of Emergency Medicine (2009; published online ahead of print).

Robinson M. Ferre, MD, of Wilford Hall Medical Center, 59^th Medical Wing, Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Tex., and colleagues randomized 80 ED patients with distal ureteral calculi to receive a 10-day course of ibuprofen and oxycodone (standard therapy) or these two medications plus tamsulosin.

Patients had a mean stone size of 3.6 mm. Successful spontaneous stone expulsion at 14 days—the primary outcome measure—occurred in 64.9% of the standard-therapy group and 77% of the tamsulosin group, a nonsignificant difference.

From the March 01, 2009 Issue of Renal and Urology News