Current issues of diagnosis and therapy of patients with restless legs syndrome

Current issues in the management of patients with restless legs syndrome are presented. For a clearer understanding of the disease pathogenesis, insights into well-studied components of pathophysiology are provided. The diagnosis is based on criteria developed and published by the International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group in 2014. Despite the rapid and significant reduction in disease symptoms achieved during pharmacotherapy, tailoring an optimal treatment regimen remains a challenging clinical task, especially in elderly patients due to prolonged use of drugs and, as a result, the low effectiveness of pathogenetic therapy. To improve the condition, it is permitted to divide the daily dose of the drug or discontinue it and replace it with an agent from a different group. Several studies suggested non-drug methods as adjunctive therapy.