Paroxetine treatment of 3 cases of cholestatic pruritus due to gastrointestinal malignancy

: Recently, the antipruritic activity of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor paroxetine has been reported. We report 3 patients with severe cholestatic pruritus due to gastrointestinal malignancy. All of them were successfully treated with 10 mg oral paroxetine. The onset of the antipruritic action of paroxetine was observed at from several hours-two days. Paroxetine seems to be an effective, well-tolerated treatment for cholestatic pruritus due to gastrointestinal malignancy.