Sertraline usage reduces pruritus severity in hemodialysis patients

This study had 60 patients who were kept on regular HD and was a placebo-controlled, double-blinded, multicentric randomized clinical trial. Sertraline 50 mg twice a day was given to patients for 8 weeks, or a placebo. Prior to and during the period of therapy, pruritus was measured using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and the 5-D Itch Scale.

The key findings of this study were:

1. The VAS score and the 5-D itch scale in the sertraline group both showed a substantial decline from baseline results at study's conclusion (p 0.001).

2. In contrast, the VAS score and 5-D scale in the placebo group both rose from baseline measures (p = 0.584 and 0.469, respectively).

3. Sertraline significantly reduced the proportion of patients with severe and very severe pruritus in both ratings, whereas the placebo group did not see a meaningful reduction [(VAS score: p = 0.739), (5-D itch scale: p = 0.763)].

4. Serum urea and serum ferritin both had significant positive relationships with the VAS and 5-D itch ratings, with p values of 0.001 and 0.002 respectively.

These findings could suggest that sertraline has a place in the management of UP. Larger, randomized clinical studies with longer follow-up times are needed to validate these findings.

Reference:

Elsayed, M. M., Elgohary, I. E., Abdelhamid, H. H. S., & Zaki, S. A. (2023). The effectiveness of sertraline in alleviating uremic pruritus in hemodialysis patients: a randomized clinical trial. In BMC Nephrology (Vol. 24, Issue 1). Springer Science and Business Media LLC. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12882-023-03212-3