Characteristics of pruritus in children on peritoneal dialysis.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to evaluate the characteristics of pruritus in pediatric patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis.


METHODS
Twenty-seven patients (16 females, 11 males), aged between 5 and 18 years, were evaluated for the presence, intensity, onset, activation time, duration, characteristics, localization and increasing factors for pruritus. The intensity of pruritus was scored using a visual analog scale. Patients were grouped according to the existence of pruritus and other clinical and laboratory parameters (dialysis duration, dialysis adequacy, hemoglobin, blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, Ca, P, albumin, bicarbonate, parathyroid hormone (PTH), C-reactive protein (CRP)) were compared between the 2 groups.


RESULTS
The mean age of patients was 11.85 +/- 4.4 years. There were 21 patients (77.7%) without pruritus and 6 patients with pruritus (22.2%). Serum P, PTH, CRP levels and CaxP product were significantly higher in patients with pruritus compared to patients without pruritus (p = 0.027, p = 0.03, p < 0.026, p = 0.031, respectively). In a stepwise logistic regression model, P (p = 0.01), CaxP product (p = 0.09), PTH (p = 0.03) and CRP (p = 0.02) were independently associated with pruritus.


CONCLUSIONS
Our study indicates that pruritus remains a common but not troublesome symptom in children on peritoneal dialysis. Higher serum P, CaxP product, PTH and CRP concentrations appear to be important factors associated with uremic pruritus in this group.
Senturk
Nilgun
N
Department of Dermatology, Ondokuz Mayis University, School of Medicine, Samsun, Turkey. nilsenturk@yahoo.com
Ozkaya
Ozan
O
Aytekin
Sevil
S
Bek
Kenan
K
Açikgöz
Yonca
Y
Aydin
Fatma
F
Bek
Yuksel
Y
Turanli
Ahmet Yaşar
AY
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010530:Peritoneal Dialysis / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011537:Pruritus / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D051437:Renal Insufficiency / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy