[Antidepressant drugs : a reasonable therapy for pruritus?]

Pruritus represents one of the most bothersome symptoms of skin and internal diseases, and can also occur without an underlying detectable cause. It is well known that chronic pruritus seriously affects the quality of life in patients. The management of pruritus is challenging, especially if the underlying cause is not identifiable. Besides therapy with increased dosage of non-sedating H1-antihistamines, which is often not successful in severe pruritus, tri- or tetracyclic antidepressants and selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors are recommended for therapy, as discussed in this review.