Comparison of the Efficacy of Gabapentin With Loratadine in the Treatment of Uremic Pruritus in Patients of Chronic Kidney Disease

Informed written consent was taken from all the participants. Participants were asked to discontinue any topical or systemic antipruritic drugs, for least 1 week prior to the study. Demographic, clinical and laboratory data (complete blood count, renal function tests, liver function tests, serum electrolytes and ultrasound abdomen) was evaluated at baseline. Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR) and stage of chronic kidney disease was calculated. Participants were randomly allocated to two groups. One group received loratadine 10mg daily and the other received gabapentin 100mg daily. Those participants undergoing hemodialysis received their respective dose after the dialysis session. Both groups were given treatment for 4 weeks. Participants were asked to grade the severity of pruritus on a numerical rating scale and also answer the Dermatology Life Quality Index Questionnaire.These proformas were filled once at the start of the study, at 2 weeks and then at the end of study i.e. 4 weeks. Participants were also asked to report any adverse events, if occurred.

The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25.0 was used to analyze the data. Qualitative data (like gender, dialysis status, etc.) was expressed in the form of frequency and percentages while quantitative data (like age, weight, serum creatinine levels, etc.) was represented as mean and standard deviations (Mean±SD). The reduction in scores of numerical rating scale and Dermatology Life Quality Index Questionnaire was calculated from baseline. Mean reduction in scores were compared between the two groups and independent sample t-test was applied. p-value <0.05 was considered as significant.