Key Concepts

• Pruritus ani often results in considerable emotional and physical distress and significantly affects the patient’s quality of life.
• A detailed and complete history and physical examination can help to identify a specific etiology in 75% of cases.
• Culture swabs and skin biopsy are important adjuncts to physical examination.
• In most cases, initial therapeutic approach is aimed at improvement of anal hygiene, dietary modification, and toileting habits.
• The patient’s expectations should be set to anticipate slow improvement of their symptoms.
• Various topical and systemic therapeutic modalities can be offered sequentially with emphasis on incremental improvement rather than complete resolution of symptoms.