An Injection Therapy for Pruritus Ani

Painful pruritus ani is treated by local subcutaneous injection of 1% quinine solution. This treatment resolves both itching and pain. However, 10% solution of pepsin is intracu-taneously injected for refractory and intense anal itching, which is markedly alleviated by this treatment. By the original method of H. Masuda, 10% solution of pure pepsin was injected intracutaneously. Because of the poor availability of pure pepsin, 10% solution of lactose-containing pepsin is used but similar effects have been observed. Treatment of local organic changes of the skin (e. g., rash, eczema, laceration) is facilitated by alleviation of itching. However once cured local lesions tend to be reactivated if local sanitary management of the skin is inadequate. Topical intracutaneous injection of pepsin is performed to mitigate itching, the pri-mary symptom, and to treat the condition causing itching in the absence of the symptom.