Acute renal failure in an elderly woman following intramuscular ketorolac administration.
OBJECTIVE
To report a case of ketorolac tromethamine-induced acute renal failure and to discuss the risk factors that make patients more susceptible to the renal effects of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).


METHODS
Case reports and review articles identified by MEDLINE. Indexing terms included ketorolac, renal failure, and NSAIDs.


METHODS
Data were abstracted from pertinent published English-language sources and were reviewed by all authors.


RESULTS
Ketorolac is an intramuscularly administered NSAID with many of the same adverse effects associated with other oral NSAIDs. Although reversible depression of renal function has been associated with several NSAIDs, to date there have been no published reports of acute renal failure secondary to ketorolac administration. A 71-year-old woman received three doses of ketorolac to control the pain associated with pelvic and T11-T12 compression fractures. Over the next two days, the patient developed signs and symptoms of acute renal failure, including significant increases in blood urea nitrogen, serum creatinine, and peripheral edema. These signs and symptoms resolved over the next three to four days. Certain risk factors, several of which were present in this woman, make individual patients more susceptible to the renal affects of NSAIDs. These risk factors include advanced age, cirrhosis, volume depletion, congestive heart failure, gastrointestinal bleeding, and preexisting mild renal dysfunction.


CONCLUSIONS
Caution should be taken when initiating ketorolac or any NSAID therapy with specific attention to risk factors that predispose a patient to renal dysfunction.
Schoch
P H
PH
Denver Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center, CO.
Ranno
A
A
North
D S
DS
D000368:Aged; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004338:Drug Combinations; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007273:Injections, Intramuscular; D020911:Ketorolac Tromethamine; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000139:chemically induced*; D014046:Tolmetin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D014325:Tromethamine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects*
D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D004338:Drug Combinations; D014325:Tromethamine; D020911:Ketorolac Tromethamine; D014046:Tolmetin