Pruritus in Patients on Maintenance Hemodialysis in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Pruritus is an unpleasant cutaneous sensation prompting a desire to scratch. It can be very disturbing and is common in patients on maintenance hemodialysis (HD). Its pathogenesis is not very clear but has been attributed to diverse factors including uremia and iron deficiency anemia. The aims and objectives of this study are to determine the frequency of pruritus in HD patients in Benin City, to evaluate the relationship of pruritus in these patients with age, sex, body mass index (BMI), skin changes, peripheral neuropathy, duration of dialysis, and laboratory findings including packed cell volume (PCV), creatinine, urea, calcium, and phosphate, and to get the percentage of patients with increasing pruritus during and after dialysis. Methods: Consenting patients on maintenance HD were consecutively recruited into the study. Some relevant clinical and laboratory parameters (age, sex, BMI, skin changes, neuropathy, presence of pruritus, severity and intensity of pruritus, serum urea, creatinine, calcium, and phosphate) were evaluated using the SPSS version 17 package. Results: A total of fifty patients participated in the study. Twenty-four (48%) of these patients had pruritus. Of the 24 patients with pruritus, 14 (58.3%) were males while 10 (41.7%) were females. The mean age, BMI, and duration of HD of the patients with pruritus were 51.0 ± 13.61 years, 23.3 ± 1.77 kg/m 2 , and 7.4 ± 9.31 months, respectively. In addition, the mean serum urea, calcium, and PCV of the patients were 252.1 ± 65.10 mg/dL, 7.0 ± 1.04 mg/dL, and 25.5% ±4.38%, respectively. Eight (33.3%) had an increasing intensity of pruritus during and after HD. Twelve (50%) of the patients had mild pruritus while another 12 (50%) had moderate pruritus. There was no case of severe pruritus. Anemia, serum urea, duration of HD and increasing the age of patients were found to be significantly related to pruritus. Conclusion: Pruritus is relatively prevalent among our patients on maintenance HD and factors significantly associated with this condition include anemia, serum urea, and increasing the age of the patient as well as duration on HD.