Cureus
An Audit on the Management of Adult Patients With Renal Colic Presenting to the Emergency Department
By Ahmed HM, Almheiri SE, Aldarmaki EM and 11 others.
Abstract
Introduction
Renal colic is a common emergency department presentation requiring timely assessment, appropriate analgesia, and investigation. This clinical audit evaluated adherence to predefined standards for pain assessment, timely analgesia, investigations, imaging, and medication selection, and assessed changes in practice following a structured implementation phase.
Methods
A retrospective, single-center, two-cycle clinical audit was conducted in an adult emergency department. The primary audit included 100 patients presenting between December 2020 and December 2024, and the re-audit included 100 patients presenting between March and September 2025, giving a total sample of 200 patients. Nine audit criteria were derived from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance. Following the primary audit, departmental education, audit feedback, an educational infographic, and a standardized renal colic analgesia pathway were implemented. Categorical outcomes were reported as frequencies and percentages and compared between audit cycles using two-sided Chi-square or Fisher exact tests, as appropriate.