Enver Turan 1, A–D, F , Mehmet Salih Gurel 2, E, F , Asli Turgut Erdemir 2, A, B , Murat Usta 3, C , Nurdan Seda Kutlu 2, A, B , Nurdan Yurt 2, B, E Effectiveness and Safety of Topical Emollients in the Treatment of PUVA-Induced Pruritus Skuteczność i bezpieczeństwo stosowania miejscowo emolientów w leczeniu świądu powstałego w wyniku zastosowania metody PUVA 1 Harran University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Dermatology, Sanliurfa, Turkey 2 Istanbul Educational and Research Hospital, Department of Dermatology, Istanbul, Turkey 3 Giresun University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Biochemistry, Giresun, Turkey A – research concept and design; B – collection and/or assembly of data; C – data analysis and interpretation; D – writing the article; E – critical revision of the article; F – final approval of article; G – other Abstract Background. In this study we tried to assess the efficacy of topical emollients in the treatment of patients with PUVA-induced pruritus. Material and Methods. 41 patients over 18 years of age, who received PUVA treatment in the phototherapy unit, were included in the study. Patients were randomly divided into two groups; Group I was administered with a 4% urea lotion and Group II was administered with liquid petrolatum. The follow-up period was minimum 4 weeks. During the first 2 weeks, patients were administered topical emollients and received PUVA treatment together. The next 2 weeks, they continued PUVA treatment without any medication. Results. When time-dependent changes in the visual analogue scale scores for pruritus of both groups were con- sidered, both treatment methods were found to be remarkably successful (p < 0.0001). In addition, an insignificant group-time interaction was identified (p = 0.753). Conclusions. Topical emollients were found to be effective in the treatment of PUVA-induced pruritus. Both forms of medication can be successfully administered and increase the patient’s compliance with medication (Adv Clin Exp Med 2013, 22, 5, 715–720). Key words: emollients, pruritus, PUVA therapy, visual analogue scale, Likert scale. Słowa kluczowe: emolienty, świąd, leczenie PUVA, wizualna skala analogowa, skala Likerta. Adv Clin Exp Med 2013, 22, 5, 715–720 ISSN 1899–5276 ORIGINAL PAPERS © Copyright by Wroclaw Medical University PUVA, which is a combination of psoraline and UV light, is an effective treatment method commonly used to cure various skin diseases [1–3]. Development of new irradiation techniques and equipment gave rise to gradual increase of photo- chemotherapy indications which made PUVA be- come more widely used day by day. In addition to that, PUVA has some long or short term side ef- fects in its own right as well [4, 5]. Pruritus, which is a short term significant adverse effect, can some- times be strong and make it hard for the patients to comply with medication [6, 7]. The mechanism for PUVA-induced pruritus is not precisely known. It manifests itself frequently after few treatments. Pruritogenic substance production, lowered pru- ritic threshold, increased skin dryness have been emphasized as possible causes [7–9]. There is still no treatment method for PUVA- -induced pruritus the efficacy of which has been proved with controlled trials. Despite the wide use of topical emollients, there is no controlled trial which would reveal their efficacy. In this study, we tried to assess the effect of topical emollients in the treatment of PUVA-induced pruritus.