Ask an answerable question (PICO)：
Skin pruritus is an inevitable nightmare for many uremic patients. For long-term sufferers, the itching not only affects social activities, but also the quality of life. At present, most of the treatment for uremic pruritus is using wetting agents or moisturizers such as petroleum jelly, ointment, etc. The treatment effect is poor, and there is no absolutely effective treatment. The purpose of this article is to explore through empirical methods whether phototherapy can alleviate uremic pruritus in dialysis patients. The results can be served as a reference for empirical care for such patients.
The Method and Analysis of Literature Review：
Create keywords and synonyms with PICO and MeSH term, and search PubMed, CINAHL, Cochrane library, Wiley online library, and Google Scholar according to Bollinger’s logic principles. A total of 212 articles were searched. Duplicate documents (n = 7) and inconsistent research topics (n = 199) were deleted. We also exclude non-English publication (n = 1), systemic literature review that does not use phototherapy as the main interventional measure (n = 2), quasi-randomized controlled trials (n = 1). We also add manually search (n = 2), and finally included 4 randomized controlled trials for critical appraisal.
Critical Appraisal：
The 2011 Oxford Center for Evidence-Based Medicine (Oxford Center for Evidence-Based Medicine) and the 2013 Critical Appraisal Skill Program (CASP) were selected as tools to evaluate the validity, importance, and practicability. The purpose of the four literature studies is to discuss the effect of dialysis patients on the relief of uremic pruritus after receiving phototherapy. The subjects involved are dialysis patients with uremic pruritus. The review and analysis of the four references concluded that phototherapy can reduce the usage amount of antihistamine or steroid drugs, combined with phototherapy and drug use, it has a better effect on the treatment of uremic pruritus.
Results, Conclusions and Recommendations：
A comprehensive review found that phototherapy can alleviate uremic pruritus in dialysis patients. Phototherapy 2~3 times a week is a safe and effective treatment for uremic pruritus under regular surveillance.
