Kidney Stone Disease When Colic Pain Cannot Be Controlled with Analgesia
Acute renal colic is the hallmark presentation of kidney stone disease. When standard pain management fails to provide adequate relief, the clinical situation requires a structured escalation approach.
Clinical scenario
Analgesia-refractory colic pain — renal colic that persists despite appropriate medical pain control, in the setting of kidney stone disease (ICD-10 N20 / ICD-11 GB70). This protocol applies when conventional analgesic therapy is insufficient and further action is required.
Approach overview
When medical analgesia cannot control colic pain, the protocol involves procedural intervention — either targeting the urinary tract for drainage or addressing the stone directly. The selection between approaches depends on specific clinical criteria outlined in the full protocol.
Complete decision criteria, procedural selection, and evidence-based sequencing are available in the full protocol →
References
Offer renal decompression or ureteroscopic stone removal in case of analgesia-refractory colic pain.
If analgesia cannot be achieved medically, drainage using stenting, percutaneous nephrostomy or stone removal is indicated.
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