Alfuzosin for Medical Expulsion Therapy of Ureteral Stones
Status:
Unknown status
Trial end date:
2012-12-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
The goal of this study is to conduct a prospective controlled trail of four currently
approved Department of Defense (DOD) - formulary medications for use as medical expulsion
therapy (MET) for kidney stones. Between 8% and 15% of Americans will develop symptomatic
urolithiasis in there life. Several medications, including steroids, calcium channel
blockers, alpha-adrenergic antagonists and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, have been
utilized to aid in the spontaneous passage of distal ureteral calculi. Recently, use of
selective alpha-blockers has shown promise for medical expulsion therapy (MET) of distal
ureteral calculi. None of these studies have been widely publicized outside the specialty of
urology. Recent studies have shown a success rate of nearly 90% when the selective
alpha-blocker tamsulosin (Flomax) was used for MET. MET has also been shown to result in a
decreased narcotic requirement, shorter time to stone passage, and reduced requirement for
further interventions. The investigators will evaluate the effectiveness of MET as initial
management for kidney stones using DOD-approved formulary medications.