**1. Introduction**

Uremic pruritus remains a frequent concern for hemodialysis [HD] patients with the most frustrating and disabling symptoms. Nearly 90% of patients on dialysis suffer from pruritus. Until present, there have been a lot of reviews discussing the pathophysiology and treatment of pruritus[1-14]. Previously, the word "uremic pruritus" has been used for symptoms of itching because it is a common skin derangement in patients with advanced renal failure. However, the usage of "uremic" may cause confusion because pruritus is not found in patients with acute kidney injury. In this regard Paitel et al. [9] recently proposed the term, "chronic kidney disease (CKD)-associated pruritus" instead of "uremic pruritus" as a more precise nomenclature. In this review, the words "uremic pruritus", "CKD-associated pruritus" and "pruritus" are used interchangeably because the authors would like to respect each author's contribution. The prevalence of CKD-associated pruritus was found to range from 15-90% of patients [15, 16]. Recent data from the Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study (DOPPS) reported that the prevalence of CKD-associated pruritus was 42% [17].
