A pilot study of vitamin E for the treatment of cirrhotic muscle cramps.

摘要

To the Editor: Muscles cramps are a common and occasionally debilitating symptom afflicting patients with cirrhosis (1-3). The clinical definition of a muscle cramp is an involuntary, visible or palpable, asymmetric painful contraction that is abrupt, often nocturnal, and usually occurs at rest. Some evidence suggests that a peripheral neuropathy induced by vitamin E deficiency may play a pathophysiological role in muscle cramps (4). To our knowledge, there is only one published clinical trial investigating the use of vitamin E in the treatment of muscle cramps in 13 cirrhotic patients (5). While this study showed a statistically significant improvement in pain, frequency and duration of muscle cramps in all subjects, there were methodological flaws, including an uncontrolled, nonblinded design (5). Given the absence of strong evidence for vitamin E for the management of painful muscle cramps, we wish to report on a pilot study undertaken at our centre to evaluate the efficacy and safety of vitamin E in the treatment of muscle cramps among patients with cirrhosis.