Table 1.
Characteristics of selected studies.
| Study (Year) | Study Design | Inclusion Criteria | Previous Treatment |
No. of Patients |
Age (Years) | STS Dosage, Route, and Frequency |
Combination Therapy |
Duration | Pruritus Severity Assessment | Pruritus Score (before→after) |
Effective Rate | ADR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hsu et al. 2018 |
RCT | HD | LC | T:30 | T:57.1 ± 5.2 | 25 g/100 mL NS, i.v., 2~3 times/w |
- | 8W | mDuo | T: 19.0(8.3)→4.3(4.4) | - | 5/30 |
| C:30 | C:56.2 ± 5.6 | C: 18.5(7.7)→7.2(1.2) | 0/30 | |||||||||
| Liu et al. 2020 |
RCT | HD | TE CHT AC AH |
T:23 | T:67.0 ± 10.4 | 3.84 g/20 mL NS i.v., 3 times/w |
TE CHT AC AH |
8W | VAS | T: 9.12(0.34)→2.47(0.82) | 21/23 | 2/23 |
| C:23 | C:65.5 ± 13.5 | C: 9.23(0.16)→5.84(0.96) | 8/23 | 0/23 | ||||||||
| Wu et al. 2020 |
RCT | HD | TE | T:30 | T:48.14 ±10.58 | 3.2~5.76 g/20 mL NS i.v., 3 times/w | AH | 3M | mDuo | T: 30.80(7.33)→10.10(2.75) | 29/30 | 2/30 |
| C:30 | C:51.22 ± 10.21 | C: 31.34(8.40)→21.95(5.09) | 19/30 | 3/30 | ||||||||
| Xu et al. 2021 |
RCT | HD | LC | T:28 | 51.21 ± 4.90 | 0.64 g/20 mL NS i.v., 1~3 times/w |
- | 3M | DRKS | T: 20.36(1.63)→12.54(0.54) | - | - |
| C:28 | C: 20.35(1.60)→16.98(0.71) | - | - |
Data are presented as mean (standard deviation). RCT = Randomized Controlled Trial; HD = hemodialysis; T = the STS group S = STS; C = the control group; i.v. = intravenous; NS = normal saline; LC = lifestyle changes; TE = topical emollients; AH = oral antihistamine; CHT = Chinese herb bath therapy; AC = acupuncture; mDuo = modified DUO score; VAS = visual analogue scale; ADR = adverse drug reaction; Dirk R Kuypers scale = DRKS.