Premier Silvio Berlusconi has won back-to-back votes of confidence in the Italian parliament but has been left with a razor-thin majority that will make it hard for him to govern effectively.

In the second and most dramatic of Tuesday's votes, Berlusconi survived a no-confidence motion in the lower house by three votes.

Voting was briefly interrupted after scuffles broke out during the tense session.

Earlier in the day, Berlusconi had secured a more comfortable victory in a confidence vote at the Senate.

The votes were called following a spate of sex scandals and a breakup with a close ally that cost Berlusconi support and threw into question whether he could still muster a parliamentary majority.