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. 2023 Aug 22;59(9):1506.
doi: 10.3390/medicina59091506.

Muscle Cramps in Outpatients with Liver Diseases in Tokyo, Japan

Tatsuo Kanda  1 , Reina Sasaki-Tanaka  1 , Naoki Matsumoto  1 , Shuhei Arima  1 , Shini Kanezawa  1 , Masayuki Honda  1 , Mai Totsuka  1 , Tomotaka Ishii  1 , Ryota Masuzaki  1 , Masahiro Ogawa  1 , Hiroaki Yamagami  1 , Hirofumi Kogure  1
Affiliations

Muscle Cramps in Outpatients with Liver Diseases in Tokyo, Japan

Tatsuo Kanda et al. Medicina (Kaunas). .

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Muscle cramps are often observed in patients with liver diseases, especially advanced liver fibrosis. The exact prevalence of muscle cramps in outpatients with liver diseases in Japan is unknown. Patients and Methods: This study examined the prevalence of, and therapies for, muscle cramps in outpatients with liver diseases in Tokyo, Japan. A total of 238 outpatients with liver diseases were retrospectively examined. We investigated whether they had muscle cramps using a visual analog scale (VAS) (from 0, none, to 10, strongest), and also investigated their therapies. Results: Muscle cramps were observed in 34 outpatients with liver diseases (14.3%); their mean VAS score was 5.53. A multivariate analysis demonstrated that older age (equal to or older than 66 years) was the only significant factor as-sociated with muscle cramps. The prevalence of muscle cramps among patients with liver diseases seemed not to be higher. The problem was that only 11 (32.4%) of 34 outpatients received therapy for their muscle cramps. Conclusions: Only age is related to muscle cramps, which is rather weak, and it is possible that this common symptom may not be limited to liver disease patients.

Keywords: Shakuyaku-kanzo-to; VAS; diabetes mellitus; leg cramps; levocarnitine; various liver diseases.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Potential reasons for muscle cramps in patients with various liver diseases.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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