Diagnosis and Treatment of Restless Legs Syndrome

Ki-Young Jung

doi:10.7599/hmr.2013.33.4.216

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Jung: Diagnosis and Treatment of Restless Legs Syndrome

Review Article

Hanyang Medical Reviews 2013; 33(4): 216-220.

Published online: 25 November 2013

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7599/hmr.2013.33.4.216

Diagnosis and Treatment of Restless Legs Syndrome

Ki-Young Jung

Department of Neurology, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Correspondence to: Ki-Young Jung. Department of Neurology, Korea University Anam Hospital, 73 Inchon-ro, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 136-705, Korea. Tel: +82-2-920-6649, Fax: +82-2-926-5347, jungky@korea.ac.kr

Received 19 August 2013 Revised 14 October 2013 Accepted 21 October 2013

(open-access):

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a sensorimotor neurologic disorder, in which the primary symptom is a compelling urge to move the legs accompanied by unpleasant and disturbing sensations in the legs. RLS is relatively common, affecting 2.5 to 15% of the general population, with prevalence rates increasing alongside age. Sleep disturbance is the most common symptom owing to RLS leg symptoms. In addition, daytime dysfunction, cognitive decline, and mood disturbance are also common in patients with RLS. Iron and dopamine are implicated in the pathophysiology of RLS, however, the underlying pathophysiology of RLS is still not fully understood. The diagnosis can be made based on the symptom characteristics, differential diagnosis is important because many conditions could mimic RLS symptoms. Dopaminergic agents are recommended for the first line treatment of RLS. Alpha2delta anticonvulsants such as gabapentin and pregabalin are also effective for controlling RLS symptoms.

Keywords: Restless Legs Syndrome, Diagnosis, Therapeutics, Dyssomnias

Figures and Tables

Table 1

Revised International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group (IRLSSG) diagnostic criteria (2012)

RLS, restless legs syndrome.

Table 2

Dopaminergic agents for restless legs syndrome

^*Median terminal elimination half-life amounts to 6 hr.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This study was supported by a grant from the National Research Foundation of Korea (No. 20110029740).

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