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Restless leg syndrome: unpleasant but benign

Treatment of restless leg syndrome is based on simple ways to improve patients' sleep and comfort. The drugs currently on offer have a negative benefit-harm balance.

Restless leg syndrome comprises a variety of benign but unpleasant symptoms. They worsen in the evening and overnight, and are relieved by moving the legs. The syndrome's evolution is variable and unpredictable, but it does not result in any serious complications. It can cause discomfort and sleep disruption.

Simple, non-drug treatments have not been thoroughly evaluated, but they should be offered initially since they expose the sufferer to few adverse effects: physical stimulation, activities promoting wakefulness, simple methods for improving sleep. Various drugs have been poorly evaluated and for the most part offered few convincing results, though they sometimes caused serious adverse effects, including a risk of symptoms being aggravated.

In practice, to improve the comfort of patients suffering from this benign disorder, it is better to keep to non-drug methods, even for patients suffering serious discomfort, as the drugs currently on offer have a negative benefit-harm balance.

©Prescrire July 2006

Source: "Les jambes sans repos : désagréable, mais sans aucune complication" Rev Prescrire 2006 ; 26 (274) : 516-520.

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