Publication:

A comparative study of efficacy and safety of tamsulosin with nifedipine versus tamsulosin alone as medical expulsive therapy for lower ureteric stones

Background Lower ureteric stones (LUS) comprises of 70% of ureteric stones. Spontaneous passage depends on stone size and location in ureter. Impacted calculi initiate smooth muscles contractions causing ureteric spasms. α-1 blockers like tamsulosin and calcium channel blocker like nifedipine relaxes ureteric smooth muscle, facilitating spontaneous expulsion. Pain and discomfort associated with urolithiasis, hospitalization and surgical cost can be minimized by medical expulsive therapy. Many studies had compared efficacy of tamsulosin with nifedipine, only few have explored the combination. This study compared efficacy of nifedipine and tamsulosin versus tamsulosin alone.

Methods 64 patients with LUS (5-10 mm) were assigned into 2 groups. Group 1 received tamsulosin and nifedipine and group 2 only tamsulosin. Rate of expulsion, time to expulsion, analgesic frequency and pain VAS score were analyzed. Chi-square or Fisher’s exact test to analyze categorical data, Mann Whitney U test or unpaired t test for differences between groups and Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed rank test for within group. A p<0.05 was statistically significant.

Results Rate of expulsion was 87.5% in group 1 and 65.6% in group 2 (p<0.05). Mean expulsion time was 6.68±1.89 days for group 1 and 8.52±2.62 in group 2 (p<0.05). Analgesic requirement was similar. Adverse effects were headache, dizziness and postural hypotension.

Conclusions Combination therapy yielded better rate of expulsion and reduction in stone expulsion time than tamsulosin alone. Thus, combination therapy can be considered for effective treatment outcomes.