Objective: To investigate the effect of additional intravenous analgesia (besides oral analgesic premedication) on the treatment outcome in patients receiving extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (SWL) with Dornier Compact- Delta lithotriptor.
Methodology: Five hundred and twenty adults receiving SWL for solitary urinary stone of size </=10 mm were retrospectively reviewed. They received the same analgesic protocol--oral diclofenac 50 mg as premedication and additional intravenous bolus alfentanil if they experienced discomfort during ESWL. After reviewing the analgesic usage, they were divided into two groups, Group-A--received oral analgesic alone and Group-B--received both oral and additional intravenous analgesia during ESWL. Treatment outcome of the two groups was then compared.
Results: There were 306 patients in Group-A and 214 patients in Group-B. The stone-free rates at 3-month for Group-A and -B were 38.2% and 44.9% respectively (P = 0.100). The re-treatment/auxiliary procedure rates for the Group-A and Group-B were 40.8%/12.7%, and 35.0%/18.2% respectively. The additional use of intravenous analgesia improved the effectiveness quotient by 17.7% [from 0.249 (Group-A) to 0.293(Group-B)].
Conclusions: The additional use of intravenous analgesia during SWL with Dornier Compact Delta lithotriptor resulted in improvement of effectiveness quotient.