A systematic review including 20 studies with a total of about 880 subjects was abstracted in DARE. The outcome was relief of pain within 20 - 30 minutes. The drugs evaluated were intramuscular diclofenac or intravenous indomethacin and analgesic agents (mainly narcotic agents).
NSAIDs were more effective than placebo (RR = 2.34, 95% CI 1.79 to3.07) and as effective or slightly better than analgesic agents (partial pain relief, RR = 1.07, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.12; complete pain relief, RR = 1.19, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.37).