Epidemiology, impact, and treatment options of restless legs syndrome in end-stage renal disease patients: an evidence-based review

Kidney Int. 2014 Jun;85(6):1275-82. doi: 10.1038/ki.2013.394. Epub 2013 Oct 9.

Abstract

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) (or Willis-Ekbom disease) is a neurological disorder with high prevalence among the end-stage renal disease population. This is one of the most predominant types of secondary RLS, and it is called uremic RLS. Despite the fact that uremic RLS has been less studied compared to idiopathic RLS, recent studies now shed light in many aspects of the syndrome including clinical characteristics, impact, epidemiology, and treatment options. The current review discusses the above topics with special emphasis given on the management of uremic RLS, including the management of symptoms that often appear during a hemodialysis session. Uremic RLS symptoms may be ameliorated by using pharmacological and nonpharmacological treatments. Evidence so far shows that both approaches may be effective in terms of reducing the RLS symptom's severity; nevertheless, more research is needed on the efficiency of treatments for uremic RLS.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Cost of Illness
  • Diagnosis, Differential
  • Evidence-Based Medicine
  • Health Status
  • Humans
  • Kidney Failure, Chronic / diagnosis
  • Kidney Failure, Chronic / epidemiology
  • Kidney Failure, Chronic / physiopathology
  • Kidney Failure, Chronic / therapy*
  • Predictive Value of Tests
  • Prevalence
  • Quality of Life
  • Renal Dialysis
  • Restless Legs Syndrome / diagnosis
  • Restless Legs Syndrome / epidemiology
  • Restless Legs Syndrome / physiopathology
  • Restless Legs Syndrome / therapy*
  • Treatment Outcome
  • Uremia / epidemiology
  • Uremia / therapy