In people with acute liver failure, the liver quickly loses its function. Learn about the signs, symptoms and treatment.
World Liver Day 2023: The liver has many functions. The most important include the production of bile, the storage of glycogen, and the removal of toxins from the bloodstream. Liver failure can be chronic or acute. In people with acute liver failure, the liver quickly loses its function. In those with chronic liver failure, the liver loses its function for a longer period. Therefore, early diagnosis and treatment of liver disorders is necessary.
What is acute liver failure?
In this case, the liver loses its functional capacity in a few weeks or even days. This condition occurs in people who do not have any pre-existing liver conditions.
How can it happen?
There can be multiple reasons behind acute liver failure:
- Substance overdose, which causes the liver to feel overwhelmed and damaged. Certain substances that can damage the liver almost instantly are acetaminophen, toxins, herbal supplements, mushroom poisoning, and certain medications.
- Metabolic diseases such as Wilson’s disease and acute fatty liver of pregnancy can cause acute liver failure.
- Autoimmune diseases: liver failure can be caused by autoimmune hepatitis
- Viral hepatitis: Liver infections from different infections such as hepatitis A, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and hepatitis E
- Other causes of acute liver failure are vascular diseases, such as Budd-Chiari syndrome, which can cause blockages in the veins of the liver, cancer, infections, and sepsis.
What should be the immediate steps?
Acute liver failure causes sudden increases in nausea and vomiting, along with mental confusion and disorientation, yellowing of the urine and eyes, a swollen belly (fluid in the abdomen), and pain in the upper abdomen. The symptoms worsen day by day, culminating in an emergency. As soon as a person realizes that they may be experiencing liver failure, they should rush to a hospital for treatment.
Treatment
- Stabilization: This is done to bring the patient’s vital signs, such as blood pressure, heart rate, and oxygen levels, back to normal.
- Diagnosis: The second step includes diagnosis of the cause and severity of the disease that led to the acute liver failure.
- Treatment: The third phase is to treat the cause with medication, and if the patient does not improve with medication, a liver transplant is required as an emergency life-saving method.
- Therapy: In some extreme cases, liver support therapy may be necessary, such as the use of a dialysis machine.
- Follow-up: Finally, the patient is monitored to keep their vital signs stable and verify the effectiveness of the treatment. The patient may be required to follow a strict lifestyle for a few months of recovery.
(Inputs: Dr. Shankar Lal Jat, Gastroenterology Consultant, Manipal Hospital, Jaipur)
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