Abstract: Objective To investigate the effect of hemoperfusion combined with acupuncture on pruritus in the elderly patients with uremia. Methods The clinical data of 45 cases of elderly uremic patients who received blood purification in Jiangsu Province Geriatric Hospital were collected from January to June 2020. The patients were divided into the hemoperfusion group, hemoperfusion with acupuncture group and control group. The treatment was for 8 weeks. The serum level of urea nitrogen, creatinine, calcium, phosphorus, intact parathyroid hormone(iPTH), high sensitivity C-reactive protein(hs-CRP), interleukin-6(IL-6), visual analogue scale(VAS)and 5-D itch score were recorded before and after the intervention. And the levels of single-pool Kt/V(spKt/V) and urea reduction rate(URR) were calculated. Results There were 42 patients included in this study. Before treatment, there were no significant difference in the levels of urea nitrogen, creatinine, spKt/V, URR, body mass index(BMI), calcium, phosphorus, iPTH, hs-CRP, IL-6, VAS scores and 5-D itch scores among the three groups. The serum levels of phosphorus, iPTH, hs-CRP, IL-6, VAS scores and 5-D itch scores in the hemoperfusion group and the hemoperfusion with acupuncture group were significantly lower than those in the control group after intervention(P＜0.05).The serum levels of phosphorus, hs-CRP, IL-6, VAS scores and 5-D itch scores in the hemoperfusion with acupuncture group were significantly lower than those in the hemoperfusion group after intervention(P＜0.05). Conclusions The effect of hemoperfusion combined with acupuncture on the improvement of pruritus in the elderly patients with uremia is more apparent.

Key words: aged, uremia, pruritus, acupuncture, hemoperfusion