The latest research into finding medications to aid the passage of ureteral or kidney stones has shown that tamsulosin is not effective for patients. Previously approved to help men experiencing an enlarged prostate, tamsulosin is an Alpha-1 blocker that, in small studies, had been found to be a promising aid in passing kidney stones.
A recent multicenter clinical trial funded by the National Institute for Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases revealed no significant support for the use of tamsulosin for kidney stones. The study, conducted by Andrew Meltzer, MD, associate professor of emergency medicine at the George Washington University (GW) School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS), and Patrick Mufarrij, MD, assistant professor of urology at SMHS, was published in JAMA Internal Medicine. It found no significant effect of patient-reported passage or capture of the stone.
