Clinical management of chronic kidney disease-associated pruritus: current treatment options and future approaches

Zoe M Lipman; Vijayakumar Paramasivam; Gil Yosipovitch; Michael J Germain

doi:10.1093/ckj/sfab167

Clinical management of chronic kidney disease-associated pruritus: current treatment options and future approaches

Clin Kidney J. 2021 Oct 14;14(Suppl 3):i16-i22. doi: 10.1093/ckj/sfab167. eCollection 2021 Dec.

Authors

Zoe M Lipman¹, Vijayakumar Paramasivam², Gil Yosipovitch¹, Michael J Germain²

Affiliations

¹ Dr Phillip Frost Department of Dermatology and Miami Itch Center, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA.
² Division of Nephrology, Renal Transplant Associates of New England, Baystate Medical Center U Mass Medical School, Springfield, MA, USA.

Abstract

Chronic kidney disease (CKD)-associated pruritus (CKD-aP) is an underdiagnosed yet severely distressing condition that impacts 60% of patients on dialysis and many nondialysis patients with Stages 3-5 CKD. However, despite its high prevalence, there are currently limited treatment options available for these patients and a lack of treatment guidelines for clinicians. In this manuscript, we reviewed the available literature in order to evaluate the current management and treatment options for CKD-aP, including dialysis management, topical treatments, gabapentinoids, opioids and alternative medicine. We also review the available data on CKD-aP treatments in development and propose new guidelines for managing patients with CKD-aP.

Keywords: CKD; CKD-aP; ESRD; itch; pruritus; uremic pruritus.

Publication types

Review