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Review
. 2021 Nov 30:17:1267-1282.
doi: 10.2147/TCRM.S310550. eCollection 2021.

Chronic Intractable Pruritus in Chronic Kidney Disease Patients: Prevalence, Impact, and Management Challenges - A Narrative Review

Karolina Świerczyńska  1 , Rafał Białynicki-Birula  1 , Jacek C Szepietowski  1
Affiliations
Review

Chronic Intractable Pruritus in Chronic Kidney Disease Patients: Prevalence, Impact, and Management Challenges - A Narrative Review

Karolina Świerczyńska et al. Ther Clin Risk Manag. .

Abstract

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is recognized as a leading public health problem and causes numerous health complications. One of the most common and burdensome dermatological symptoms affecting patients undergoing dialysis is CKD-associated pruritus (CKD-aP). This condition not only has a negative impact on sleep, mood, daily activities, and quality of life but also increases the mortality risk of hemodialyzed patients. Despite that, this condition is greatly underestimated in clinical practice. Due to the complex and still not fully understood etiopathogenesis of CKD-aP, the choice of an effective therapy remains a challenge for clinicians. Most common therapeutic algorithms use topical treatment, phototherapy, and various systemic approaches. This review aimed to summarize most recent theories about the pathogenesis, clinical features, and treatment of CKD-aP.

Keywords: chronic kidney disease; chronic kidney disease–associated pruritus; treatment.

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Conflict of interest statement

Jacek Szepietowski reports personal fees from AbbVie, Leo Pharma, Menlo Therapeutics, Novartis, Pierre-Fabre, Sandoz Sanofi-Genzyme, Trevi, and Viofor, personal fees from AbbVie, Bauch, Eli-Lilly, Leo-Pharma, Novartis, and Sanofi-Genzyme, and personal fees from AbbVie, Amgen, Behringer Ingelheim, Galapagos, Incyte, InflaRx, Janssen-Cilag, Leo Pharma, Menlo Therapeutics, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, Regeneron, Trevi, and UCB, outside the submitted work. The authors declare no other conflicts of interest in this work.

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