Cutaneous Manifestations of Chronic Kidney Disease: A Narrative Review

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) often presents with various skin manifestations, including xerosis, pruritus, calciphylaxis, pigmentation disorders, nail changes, and hair-growth abnormalities, which are frequently underrecognized. These manifestations result from factors like epidermal barrier dysfunction, uremic toxin accumulation, systemic inflammation, and mineral-bone disorder. Effective management involves early recognition and a multimodal approach, including optimized dialysis, metabolic control, emollient therapy, photoprotection, phototherapy, neuromodulatory agents, and κ-opioid receptor modulators. Collaboration between nephrology and dermatology, along with the use of severity scales and standardized follow-up, can improve patient outcomes. There is a need for better cutaneous biomarkers and trials to evaluate treatment strategies.