Persistence of secondary restless legs syndrome in a phantom limb caused by end-stage renal disease.

Our patient had secondary restless legs syndrome (RLS) in the left lower limb caused by end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Severe RLS symptoms persisted even after amputation of the affected limb. Considering that oral administration of a dopamine receptor agonist was effective in treating the RLS in the phantom limb in this case, dysfunction of the central dopaminergic system was thought to be involved in the phantom limb-RLS mechanism. The persistence of RLS symptoms even after amputation of the affected limb suggests that the area responsible for ESRD-related RLS symptoms exists at the spinal level or in the higher central nervous system.