Mucocutaneous Changes in End-Stage Renal Disease Under Regular Hemodialysis - A Cross-Sectional Study

Patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) suffer from mucocutaneous changes that could significantly impair the quality of life. We aimed this study to assess the mucocutaneous changes in hemodialysis patients and to correlate the serum creatinine to these changes.

Data were collected from the Hemodialysis Center at Benha University. A cross-sectional study design on 130 chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients (30-60 years old, 84 males, 46 females) undergoing hemodialysis. Oral examinations were done for these patients as per the modified World Health Organization oral health survey 2013 criteria. All the mucocutaneous changes were recorded then types, distribution, and frequencies were calculated and correlated to serum creatinine.

Mucocutaneous abnormalities were present in 100% of the studied CKD sample. We observed that pallor (76.2%), xerostomia (70%), petechiae/purpura (49.2%), altered taste (49.2%), and lip pigmentation (40.8%) were the most prevalent mucocutaneous changes among the CKD patients undergoing hemodialysis. A strong association was detected between serum creatinine and the following: abnormal lip pigmentation and lichen planus.

There is an association between lip pigmentation and lichen planus in CKD patients and the level of serum creatinine as the higher level of serum creatinine was found in the patients with abnormal lip pigmentation and the atrophic lichen planus patients.