Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Feb 7, 2015; 21(5): 1404-1413
Published online Feb 7, 2015. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i5.1404
Jaundice associated pruritis: A review of pathophysiology and treatment
Ramez Bassari, Jonathan B Koea
Ramez Bassari, Jonathan B Koea, Department of Surgery, North Shore Hospital, Takapuna, Auckland 0632, New Zealand
Author contributions: Bassari R performed literature search and initial publication review, drafting of manuscript; Koea JB performed literature search and publication review, revision of manuscript.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Jonathan B Koea, MD, FACS, FRACS, Department of Surgery, North Shore Hospital, Private Bag 93503, Takapuna, Auckland 0632, New Zealand. jonathan.koea@waitematadhb.govt.nz
Telephone: +64-9-4868900 Fax: +64-9-4884621
Received: August 11, 2014
Peer-review started: August 12, 2014
First decision: September 15, 2014
Revised: October 29, 2014
Accepted: November 19, 2014
Article in press: November 19, 2014
Published online: February 7, 2015
Core Tip

Core tip: The occurrence of pruritis in association with jaundice has been recognized for many years but its pathogenesis is poorly understood. Recent advances in understanding the neural pathways involved in itch have contributed to the clinical treatment of this important symptom.