Medical palliation of the jaundiced patient with pruritus.

Cholestasis secondary to infiltration of the liver by malignant tumors or by obstruction of the biliary tree can be complicated by pruritus. The clinician and ancillary personal must recognize how debilitating pruritus is and identify the treatment of this symptom as a priority. Because robust clinical trials have not been conducted in patients who have pruritus with cholestasis, a network connecting the services that provide care for these patients (eg, hospices) may be useful for disseminating information.