Nurse-Led Curcumin Adjunctive Therapy for Acute Renal Colic in the Emergency Department: Effects on Pain Intensity and Physiological Responses

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of nurse-led curcumin adjunctive therapy in reducing pain intensity and improving physiological responses among patients with acute renal colic presenting to an emergency department.
Methods: A quasi-experimental, two-group pretest–posttest non-equivalent control group design was conducted from January to April 2026 in the Emergency Department of RSUD Siti Fatimah Provinsi Sumatera Selatan (Siti Fatimah Regional General Hospital of South Sumatra Province), Indonesia. Eighty-four patients with acute renal colic were allocated to an intervention group (n = 42) receiving nurse-led curcumin adjunctive therapy plus standard emergency management or a control group (n = 42) receiving standard emergency management alone. Pain intensity was assessed using the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS), while physiological responses included systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), heart rate (HR), and respiratory rate (RR). Outcomes were assessed at pretest and posttest, and within- and between-group changes were analysed using appropriate parametric tests.
Results: Pain intensity decreased from 7.48 ± 1.02 to 3.21 ± 1.18 in the intervention group, representing a mean reduction of 4.27 ± 1.34 points, compared with 2.50 ± 1.41 points in the control group (p < 0.001 for both within-group comparisons). The between-group difference in mean change was −1.77 NRS points (95% CI, −2.35 to −1.19; p < 0.001). The intervention group also demonstrated greater reductions in SBP (−18.8 vs. −10.2 mmHg), DBP (−10.3 vs. −5.1 mmHg), HR (−14.1 vs. −6.3 beats/min), and RR (−3.2 vs. −1.6 breaths/min), with all between-group comparisons statistically significant.
Conclusion: Nurse-led curcumin adjunctive therapy was associated with greater short-term reductions in acute renal colic pain and more favourable physiological responses than standard emergency management alone. These findings support its potential as an adjunctive nursing approach; however, larger randomized controlled trials are warranted to confirm its clinical effectiveness and safety.