Acta Demato-Venereologica 98-2CompleteContent | Page 10

191 CLINICAL REPORT Clinical Characteristics of Pruritus and Pain in Patients with Hidradenitis Suppurativa Łukasz MATUSIAK, Justyna SZCZĘCH, Karolina KAAZ, Edyta LELONEK and Jacek C. SZEPIETOWSKI Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Allergology, Wroclaw Medical University, Wroclaw, Poland A growing body of research has indicated that pruri- tus is an important feature of hidradenitis suppurativa (HS). This study evaluated pruritus and pain among 103 patients with HS. Pruritus and pain intensity were assessed with a visual analogue scale, numerical ra- ting scale and 4-item Itch Questionnaire. Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) was implemented to assess quality of life (QoL) issues. Various clinical features and factors influencing pruritus were also examined. Pruritus and pain during the last week were reported among 41.7% and 77.5% of patients, respectively. The presence of pruritus did not have an impact on DLQI, nor did it show interaction with the pain in this regard. The presence of pain was a crucial contributor, even more relevant than disease severity. Nonetheless, intensity of pruritus correlated positively with DLQI. The most troublesome symptom of HS was pain, fol- lowed by exudation, pruritus, appearance and smell, consecutively. Pruritus of mild-to-moderate intensity is a common HS-associated symptom that adversely affects patients’ QoL. Key words: hidradenitis suppurativa; acne inversa; pain; pruri- tus; visual analogue scale; numerical rating scale. Accepted Oct 2, 2017; Epub ahead of print Oct 3, 2017 Acta Derm Venereol 2018; 98: 191–194. Corr: Jacek C. Szepietowski, Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Allergology, Wroclaw Medical University, Chałubińskiego 1, PL-50-368 Wrocław, Poland. E-mail: [email protected] H idradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic, inflamma- tory, debilitating disease of a relapsing nature, pre- dominantly involving nodules, abscesses and suppurating lesions of the apocrine gland-bearing areas of the skin. The estimated prevalence of HS is approximately 1% of the general population, wi