[Pruritus associated chronic kidney disease]

Pruritus associated with chronic kidney disease is a frequent and disabling symptom in patients with severe chronic kidney disease treated by dialysis. It is associated with a poor quality of life, an increased risk of comorbidities and even mortality. Nevertheless, its prevalence is underestimated by nephrologists. The pathophysiology of pruritus associated with chronic kidney disease is not well understood, but several mechanisms seem to contribute to its occurrence: accumulation and skin deposition of uremic toxins, peripheral neuropathy causing an activation of the pruritogenic cowhage pathway, chronic microinflammation, opioid imbalance, and kidney disease-related skin xerosis. Optimization of the treatment of chronic kidney disease treatment, of dialysis parameters, and general skin care measures should always be performed prior to the introduction of systemic therapy targeting one or more of these mechanisms. The available therapeutic trials remain mostly at high risk of bias, with small patient numbers. Gabapentinoids are the molecules recommended as first-line therapy. Peripheral opioid agonists could find a place of choice in the treatment of pruritus associated with chronic kidney disease and will soon be available in France. The low level of evidence for the other molecules does not currently allow us to specify a second-line treatment for this condition.