Desmopressin as an adjuvant to opioids or NSAIDs in treatment of renal colic: a nationwide register-based study.

AIMS: Desmopressin has been reported to be effective as an adjuvant to opioids or NSAIDs in management of pain in renal colic; however real-life data are lacking on the utilisation of desmopressin in this patient segment.

METHODS

The Danish National Prescription Registry data-linked with Danish National Patient Registry during a 3-year period from 2009 to 2011 was used to study prescriptions for desmopressin in renal colic.

RESULTS

We identified 888 desmopressin prescriptions for renal colic, dispensed to 95 patients. The mean treatment period was 159 days, with a large variation up to a maximum of 924 days. Approximately two thirds of patients received dosing instructions to administer the drug 4 times daily to provide 24-h antidiuretic coverage. Among concomitant opioids and NSAIDs, tramadol and ibuprofen were prescribed most frequently. Antidepressants and diuretics were also widely used. A clear sex difference was seen, with female renal colic patients having three times more prescriptions overall than males, and in particular receiving more antidepressants and psychotropic drugs. A total of 4 (4.2%) of the patients experienced hospital admissions because of hyponatraemia or polydipsia during the 3-year period. We confirmed a previous case report that nephrolithiasis could be at least an occasional complication of successful therapy of Central Diabetes Insipidus (CDI) with desmopressin, identifying 12 CDI patients in total, or 2.4% of all Danish CDI patients in that period, who were also treated for renal colic.

CONCLUSION

In summary, these real-life prescription data provide exact epidemiological measures on desmopressin utilisation in renal colic.