Lunar Phases and Emergency Department Visits for Renal Colic Due to Ureteral Calculus

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 11; no. 6; p. e0157589
• Main Authors: Yang, Andy W, Johnson, Justin D, Fronczak, Carolyn M, LaGrange, Chad A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 01.06.2016; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Abdomen; Aggressiveness; Biology and Life Sciences; Calculi; Calendars; Circadian rhythm; Colic; Correlation analysis; Diabetes; Emergency medical care; Emergency medical services; Endocrinology; Environmental factors; Female; Health care facilities; Humans; Incidence; Kidney stones; Kidneys; Lithiasis; Longitudinal Studies; Lunar phases; Male; Medical imaging; Medicine; Medicine and Health Sciences; Mental health; Metabolic disorders; Metabolism; Middle Aged; Moon; Patient assessment; Physical Sciences; Physiology; Renal Colic - diagnosis; Renal Colic - epidemiology; Retrospective Studies; Risk analysis; Risk Factors; Seasonal variations; Seasons; Statistical analysis; Studies; Surgery; Tomography; Ultrasonic imaging; Ureteral Calculi - complications; Urinary tract; Urogenital system; Urolithiasis; Urology; United States > US; Nebraska
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0157589

Urolithiasis affects an estimated 5% of the population and the lifetime risk of passing a stone in the urinary tract is estimated to be 8-10%. Urinary calculus formation is highly variable and while certain risk factors such as age, gender, seasonality, anatomic abnormality, and metabolic diseases have been identified, not much is known regarding the association of environmental factors such as lunar phases on renal colic. We conducted a retrospective study to test the hypothesis that full moon phase is an environmental factor associated for increased emergency department (ED) visits for renal colic due to ureteral calculus. We analyzed 559 renal colic diagnoses by the ED at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in a 24-month period and compared them with corresponding lunar phases as well as supermoon events. The lunar phases were defined as full moon ± two days, new moon ± two days, and the days in-between as normal days according to the lunar calendar. Supermoon event dates were obtained from NASA. 90 cases (16.1%) were diagnosed during full moon phase, 89 cases (15.9%) were diagnosed during new moon phase, and 380 cases (68.0%) were diagnosed during normal days. The incidence of renal colic showed no statistically significant association with lunar phases or supermoon events. In this retrospective longitudinal study with adequate power, neither full moon phase nor supermoon event exhibited an association with increased renal colic diagnoses due to ureteral calculus by the ED at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.