ArticleCureus2026
Naltrexone as an Antipruritic Agent for Surgical Scar Pruritus.
Article in Cureus, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Naltrexone is a competitive opioid receptor antagonist that is FDA-approved for the treatment of alcohol and opioid use disorders. It is also used as an off-label treatment for a plethora of conditions spanning multiple specialties, including multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, Crohn's disease, and compulsive disorders. Naltrexone has also been used off-label for the treatment of pruritus in patients with burn injuries, atopic dermatitis, cholestatic dermatitis, chronic urticaria, and immunotherapy-induced pruritus. Naltrexone is thought to alleviate pruritus through its antagonist effect on the µ-opioid receptor at pain-transmitting and pruritoceptive dorsal horn neurons. This case report explores the treatment of persistent surgical scar pruritus following endoscopic brow lift and bilateral upper eyelid blepharoplasties under general anesthesia. After trialing first-line treatments of oral antihistamines and topical antipruritics, naltrexone was initiated. The treatment dose was titrated between 25 and 100 mg daily, and the pruritus is currently well-controlled with a dose of 25 mg twice a day. While our case report supports the limited available data for the use of naltrexone as treatment for pruritus in certain conditions, more research is warranted to further establish efficacy, safety, and specific diagnosis indications. Naltrexone is not currently FDA-approved to treat pruritus.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.