Physiopathology and management of cholestatic pruritus in children

• Published in: Archives de pédiatrie : organe officiel de la Société française de pédiatrie Vol. 24; no. 7; pp. 682 - 688
• Main Authors: Thébaut, A, Debray, D, Gonzales, E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: French
• Published: France 01.07.2017
• Subjects: Anion Exchange Resins - therapeutic use; Biliary Tract Surgical Procedures; Child; Cholagogues and Choleretics - therapeutic use; Cholestasis - complications; Cholestyramine Resin - therapeutic use; Chronic Disease; Cytochrome P-450 CYP3A Inducers - therapeutic use; Humans; Liver Transplantation; Narcotic Antagonists - therapeutic use; Pruritus - etiology; Pruritus - therapy; Rifampin - therapeutic use; Serotonin Uptake Inhibitors - therapeutic use; Sertraline - therapeutic use; Sorption Detoxification; Ursodeoxycholic Acid - therapeutic use
• ISSN: 1769-664X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.arcped.2017.04.004

Pruritus is a disabling symptom accompanying chronic cholestasis. In some cases, refractory pruritus may require invasive therapies including liver transplantation. The pathogenesis of pruritus in cholestatic disease is poorly understood. It may involve a specific neural pathway and several pruritogenic substances such as bile acids, opioids, serotonin, and the more recently identified lysophosphatidic acid. While the therapeutic management of cholestatic pruritus is well established in adult patients, there is no consensus in children, given the difficulty in conducting controlled clinical studies. The currently recommended strategy to manage cholestatic pruritus in children is based on several lines of therapy that should always be associated with local cutaneous care and with nonspecific treatment of cholestasis including ursodeoxycholic acid therapy. Pruritus should be assessed as objectively as possible between each therapeutic step. Rifampicin, an enzyme inducer, is the specific first-line treatment of cholestatic pruritus. The second-line therapies require evaluation of the child in an expert center and are discussed on a case-by-case basis depending on the underlying disease, the experience of the center and the will of the child and his family. It could be inhibitors of serotonin reuptake (sertraline) or an opioid antagonist (naloxone). Invasive therapies such as biliary diversion or liver transplantation can also be proposed in the most severe cases.