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Clinical question: Does tamsulosin provide benefit in ureteral stone expulsion for patients who present with a symptomatic stone less than 9 mm?
Background: Treatment of urinary stone disease often includes the use of alpha-blockers such as tamsulosin to promote stone passage, and between 15% and 55% of patients presenting to EDs for renal colic are prescribed alpha-blockers. Current treatment guidelines support the use of tamsulosin, with recent evidence suggesting that this treatment is more effective for larger stones (5-10 mm). However, other prospective trials have called these guidelines into question.
Study design: Double-blind, placebo-controlled study.
Setting: Six emergency departments at U.S. tertiary-care hospitals.
Synopsis: 512 participants with symptomatic ureteral stones were randomized to either tamsulosin or placebo. At the end of a 28-day treatment period, the rate of urinary stone passage was 49.6% in the tamsulosin group vs. 47.3% in the placebo group (95.8% confidence interval, 0.87-1.27; P = .60). The time to stone passage also was not different between treatment groups (P = .92). A second phase of the trial also evaluated stone passage by CT scan at 28 days, with stone passage rates of 83.6% in the tamsulosin group and 77.6% in the placebo group (95% CI, 0.95-1.22; P = .24). This study is the largest of its kind in the United States, with findings similar to those of two recent international multisite trials, increasing the evidence that tamsulosin is not beneficial for larger stone passage.
Bottom line: For patients presenting to the ED for renal colic from ureteral stones smaller than 9 mm, tamsulosin does not appear to promote stone passage.
Citation: Meltzer AC et al. Effect of tamsulosin on passage of symptomatic ureteral stones: A randomized clinical trial. JAMA Intern Med. 2018;178(8):1051-7. Published online June 18, 2018.
Dr. Breviu is assistant professor of medicine and an academic hospitalist, University of Utah, Salt Lake City.
Clinical question: Does tamsulosin provide benefit in ureteral stone expulsion for patients who present with a symptomatic stone less than 9 mm?
Background: Treatment of urinary stone disease often includes the use of alpha-blockers such as tamsulosin to promote stone passage, and between 15% and 55% of patients presenting to EDs for renal colic are prescribed alpha-blockers. Current treatment guidelines support the use of tamsulosin, with recent evidence suggesting that this treatment is more effective for larger stones (5-10 mm). However, other prospective trials have called these guidelines into question.
Study design: Double-blind, placebo-controlled study.
Setting: Six emergency departments at U.S. tertiary-care hospitals.
Synopsis: 512 participants with symptomatic ureteral stones were randomized to either tamsulosin or placebo. At the end of a 28-day treatment period, the rate of urinary stone passage was 49.6% in the tamsulosin group vs. 47.3% in the placebo group (95.8% confidence interval, 0.87-1.27; P = .60). The time to stone passage also was not different between treatment groups (P = .92). A second phase of the trial also evaluated stone passage by CT scan at 28 days, with stone passage rates of 83.6% in the tamsulosin group and 77.6% in the placebo group (95% CI, 0.95-1.22; P = .24). This study is the largest of its kind in the United States, with findings similar to those of two recent international multisite trials, increasing the evidence that tamsulosin is not beneficial for larger stone passage.
Bottom line: For patients presenting to the ED for renal colic from ureteral stones smaller than 9 mm, tamsulosin does not appear to promote stone passage.
Citation: Meltzer AC et al. Effect of tamsulosin on passage of symptomatic ureteral stones: A randomized clinical trial. JAMA Intern Med. 2018;178(8):1051-7. Published online June 18, 2018.
Dr. Breviu is assistant professor of medicine and an academic hospitalist, University of Utah, Salt Lake City.
Clinical question: Does tamsulosin provide benefit in ureteral stone expulsion for patients who present with a symptomatic stone less than 9 mm?
Background: Treatment of urinary stone disease often includes the use of alpha-blockers such as tamsulosin to promote stone passage, and between 15% and 55% of patients presenting to EDs for renal colic are prescribed alpha-blockers. Current treatment guidelines support the use of tamsulosin, with recent evidence suggesting that this treatment is more effective for larger stones (5-10 mm). However, other prospective trials have called these guidelines into question.
Study design: Double-blind, placebo-controlled study.
Setting: Six emergency departments at U.S. tertiary-care hospitals.
Synopsis: 512 participants with symptomatic ureteral stones were randomized to either tamsulosin or placebo. At the end of a 28-day treatment period, the rate of urinary stone passage was 49.6% in the tamsulosin group vs. 47.3% in the placebo group (95.8% confidence interval, 0.87-1.27; P = .60). The time to stone passage also was not different between treatment groups (P = .92). A second phase of the trial also evaluated stone passage by CT scan at 28 days, with stone passage rates of 83.6% in the tamsulosin group and 77.6% in the placebo group (95% CI, 0.95-1.22; P = .24). This study is the largest of its kind in the United States, with findings similar to those of two recent international multisite trials, increasing the evidence that tamsulosin is not beneficial for larger stone passage.
Bottom line: For patients presenting to the ED for renal colic from ureteral stones smaller than 9 mm, tamsulosin does not appear to promote stone passage.
Citation: Meltzer AC et al. Effect of tamsulosin on passage of symptomatic ureteral stones: A randomized clinical trial. JAMA Intern Med. 2018;178(8):1051-7. Published online June 18, 2018.
Dr. Breviu is assistant professor of medicine and an academic hospitalist, University of Utah, Salt Lake City.