Efficacy of massage with lovender oil on severity of uremic restless legs syndrome: A double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Background and Objective: Restless leg syndrome (RLS) is a neurological disorder characterized by extremely unpleasant sensation leading to irresistible need to move the legs. This syndrome mostly occurs in patients which undergoing hemodialysis. Conventionally, some pharmacological treatments are used for management of uremic RLS. However, these treatments can cause serious complications. Currently, there is a growing body of interest on non-pharmacological and herbal methods. However efficacy of lovender oil and massage has been proposed in different conditions, no trial assess its efficacy on uremic restless leg syndrome. Lovender oil is one of the herbal product which has been traditionally used throughout the world for a wide range of painful and unpleasant conditions. Materials and Methods: This study is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel group, before-after clinical trial. The trial was prepared based on the CONSORT statement. We recruited all patients undergoing dialysis in hemodialysis Ward of Qom Kamkar-Arab-Nia Hospital, affiliated to Qom University of Medical Science In this trial, 60 patients with uremic RLS were allocated randomly to receive massage with either lovender oil or placebo two times a week for 4 weeks. For each leg, three mL of products were applied and then massaged for five minutes from the plantar surface of the foot until below the knee during hemodialysis session All patients were educated how to take care during hemodialysis by the face-to-face technique at the participating ward . RLS severity was scored in the first day and one week after the last intervention by International RLS rating scale. Result: Out of 60 patients participated in the trial, 3 patients in olive oil arm and 2 in placebo arm were excluded from the trial and analysis due to discontinuing the intervention and loss of follow-up.After the intervention, RLS severity significantly decreased more in lovender oil group Based on paired sample t-test, the mean score of IRLS decreased significantly after massage with both olive oil (t = 4.79, P ˂ 0.001) and placebo (t = 2.50, P = 0.019). The mean score of IRLS declined 31.69% from baseline to post intervention in olive oil group, while it declined 11.01% in placebo group. No patients experienced any adverse effects resulting from interventions at any of the assessment times. Conclusion: Application of topical olive oil massage reduced uremic RLS severity. Thus, given the effectiveness of this intervention and no side effects, it could be suggested on complementary medicine as a new approach to manage symptoms and severity of RLS and improve quality of the patients’ cares. However, further studies are required in the future to confirm obtained findings.

Keywords:

lovender oil , Massage , Restless Legs Syndrome , Renal Dialysis