The Effect of Cold Hemodialysis Fluid on the Uremia Pruritus in Hemodialysis Patients

Uremic pruritus is one of the most common and debilitating complications of hemodialysis patients which affects 50 to 90 percent of them. Pruritus can lead to skin infections, scaling, anxiety, sleep disorders, social dysfunction and so on in patient. The aim of study was to evaluate the effect of hemodialysis with cold dialysis fluid on reducing the level of uremic pruritus in hemodialysis patients.
This study was a pre and post-test double-blind clinical trial performed in summer 2012 in hemodialysis department of Fatemieh hospital, Semnan. Of all patients in the hemodialysis department, 35 people were eligible. To collect data, demographic questionnaire, medical records and itching scale were used. Patients were hemodialized three times per week and each session was four hours, for one month with standard hemodialysis(37oc) and then in the second month with cold hemodialysis(35oc). Data were analyzed by Paired t-test and Wilcoxon tests at a significant level of 5%.
The results showed that the mean and standard deviation of pruritus in standard and cool hemodialysis stage were 23.0±10.3 and 8.8±1.3, respectively. The data indicate that the patient's pruritus in the cold stage of hemodialysis was significantly reduced (P Cold hemodialysis can relieve uremic pruritus among hemodialysis patients.