Acupuncture Effect on Pruritus in Hemodialysis Patients: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Background: End-stage renal disease (ESRD) is a worldwide growing public health concern. Hemodialysis (HD) is a treatment option for people experiencing ESRD. Because of limited therapeutic methods due to the vague pathogenesis, the control of pruritus is so difficult. Thus, we decided to carry out this study to examine the effect of acupuncture on pruritus. Methods: This multi-centered randomized clinical trial was conducted during 2015 - 2017 in the hemodialysis wards of teaching hospitals in Mashhad, Iran. 30 patients that met the inclusion criteria entered the study by a convenience sampling and were randomized into two groups: One group receiving acupuncture intervention and the other receiving sham acupuncture as the control group. We measured the visual analog scale (VAS) score of pruritus before and after the intervention in the two groups. Results: The mean age of the participants was 49.04 14.93 with a minimum age of 23 years and a maximum age of 65 years. 17 (65.40%) patients were male, and nine (34.60%) were female. We had a significant difference between the scores of both groups before and after the intervention, but the difference of the scores was more significant in the intervention group than in the control group (5.94 versus 1.27, respectively). Our study also showed a significant difference between the two groups after the intervention (P value < 0.001). Conclusions: Our findings indicate that acupuncture, as a noninvasive, safe, and easy treatment, can be useful and effective for the management of Hemodialysis patients with pruritus. Identifying the pathophysiology of pruritus and neurobiological mechanism of acupuncture to reduce pruritus will remarkably improve the application of new therapies to decrease itching.