Tips for managing decompensated liver disease
An expert advises more albumin and antibiotics
Keywords: How to manage decompensated liver disease in the hospital
An expert advises more albumin and antibiotics
Keywords: How to manage decompensated liver disease in the hospital
By Deborah
Gesensway. Published
in the September 2012 issue of Today's Hospitalist
"WHEN HOSPITALISTS ENCOUNTER PATIENTS WITH
decompensated liver disease, they probably should worry less about hemorrhage
and focus more on paracentesis. While they're at it, hospitalists should also
probably order albumin and prescribe antibiotics more frequently, and remember
that beta-blockers can be helpful after variceal band ligation.
Those
were the take-home messages at a session on managing decompensated liver disease
at this spring's Society of Hospital Medicine annual meeting. James R. Burton
Jr., MD, a gastroenterologist, associate professor of medicine and medical
director of liver transplantation at the University of Colorado Hospital,
addressed a number of concerns that hospitalists have about treating patients with decompensated liver disease who need medical care while waiting for liver transplants."
That's why he's adopted this maxim: "If you are sick enough to have cirrhosis and be in the hospital," said Dr. Burton, "you are going to need a needle in your abdomen to rule out SBP."
That's why he's adopted this maxim: "If you are sick enough to have cirrhosis and be in the hospital," said Dr. Burton, "you are going to need a needle in your abdomen to rule out SBP."