Chronic Kidney Disease-Associated Pruritus

Chronic kidney disease-associated pruritus (CKD-associated pruritus, formerly named “uraemic pruritus”) remains a frequent and sometimes tormenting problem in patients with advanced or end-stage renal disease.1 Many attempts have been made to relieve this bothersome symptom in affected patients, but with limited success in general. After a new treatment option is reported to be effective, only a little time elapses before conflicting results concerning CKD-associated pruritus are published. In the meantime patients’ and physicians’ mood changes from euphoria to disillusionment. This happened with erythropoetin2, 3 and naltrexone4, 5 as the last propagated treatment modalities in this respect.