ABSTRACT
Because of the subjective nature of the clinical features of restless legs syndrome (RLS), the diagnosis of RLS is usually based on the patient’s clinical history1. Thus, a recent international workshop on the diagnosis and epidemiology of RLS, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, defined four essential diagnostic criteria, all of which can be assessed by clinical history alone2. These criteria are:
(1) A compelling urge to move the limbs, usually (although not necessarily) associated with paresthesias and dysesthesias. The discomfort is often described in terms such as: creeping, crawling, itching, burning, searing, tugging, pulling, drawing, aching, heat/coldness, ‘electric current like’, restlessness or pain, and seems to be located deep in the muscle or bone, and more seldom in joints3. The sensory symptoms involve the legs, but in almost half of the patients the arms also. The discomfort can occur unilaterally or bilaterally.
