[Clinical shortcuts in the differential diagnosis of pruritus]

Chronic pruritus is a common and burdensome symptom in medicine. The care of patients with chronic pruritus is very complex not only because of the high prevalence, but also because of the multifactorial character of itch and the lack of approved therapies. In addition to the main patient need to alleviate the pruritus, patients wish to find the cause of chronic pruritus. This article summarizes some clinical shortcuts. Simple procedures such as taking a detailed medical history can provide clues to the underlying cause of chronic pruritus in order to achieve targeted diagnostic workup or to avoid unnecessary testing. If clinical shortcuts are not identified, we recommend a structured medical history, which is also discussed in this article.