What are the nursing methods for severe hepatitis

Severe hepatitis is a relatively serious liver inflammation. This disease will manifest itself in symptoms such as anorexia, vomiting, and abdominal bloating. As the disease progresses, blood spots will appear in the liver, causing kidney function to weaken, and the body's immunity will decrease, making it easy for viruses to invade the body. Hepatitis can also cause some complications such as nerve numbness, poor spirits, getting angry, fever, and other symptoms, and hepatitis can also have adverse effects on the human digestive tract. Therefore, when caring for severe hepatitis, you need to pay close attention to diet. The following is a detailed introduction to hepatitis care.

Dietary precautions

It is difficult for patients with severe hepatitis to ensure adequate dietary intake, and hypoproteinemia, hypoglycemia, and hypolipidemia are common. In addition to providing nutritional support, the importance of diet (or enteral nutrition) lies in maintaining the function of the gastrointestinal tract, reducing intestinal flora imbalance and ectopic flora, reducing the production and absorption of endotoxins, and preventing the occurrence of stress ulcer bleeding. Therefore, if the condition permits, try to provide the patient with appropriate food. Even patients who cannot eat should strive to receive enteral nutrition through nasogastric tube feeding.

The diet is mainly based on carbohydrates, provides sufficient water-soluble vitamins, and appropriately supplements with dietary fiber, glutamine, branched-chain amino acids and other preparations. Limit the intake of protein and fat foods to avoid aggravating or causing hepatic encephalopathy. Salt and water intake should be restricted in patients with ascites and edema. Eat small meals frequently, mainly soft food and semi-liquid food that is easily digestible. Severe hypoglycemia often occurs at night, which is extremely detrimental to liver cell regeneration. Therefore, you should have 2-3 extra meals at night, and you can eat foods high in sucrose, glucose or fructose appropriately. The principles of nutritional support during the recovery period of severe hepatitis are the same as those for chronic hepatitis.

Disease prevention

1. Chronic hepatitis B carriers should try to develop good living habits and have regular health checks to avoid overlapping infections and hidden progression of the disease, and promptly detect and deal with changes in the condition.

2. For those who are taking oral antiviral drugs for maintenance treatment of chronic hepatitis B, they must not stop taking the drugs at will. Instead, they should decide whether to stop taking the drugs when the indications for stopping the drugs are met under the guidance of a specialist physician. And after stopping the medication, regular check-ups should be required.

3. With the application of nucleoside (acid) drugs, more and more chronic hepatitis B patients are receiving hepatitis B antiviral treatment. During the maintenance treatment stage, HBV-DNA should be checked regularly to detect drug resistance in time and prevent severe hepatitis caused by drug resistance.

4. Do not abuse drugs and avoid alcoholism, especially HBsAg carriers should abstain from alcohol.

5. Vaccine application: Use universal hepatitis B vaccination and mother-to-child transmission prevention to prevent hepatitis B virus infection, and inject hepatitis A vaccine to prevent superinfection.

Disease Prognosis

The prognosis is poor, with a mortality rate of 50% to 70%. The mortality rate is lower in patients who are younger, receive timely treatment and have no complications. Survivors of acute severe hepatitis (liver failure) have a good long-term prognosis and most do not develop chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis. Most survivors of subacute severe hepatitis (liver failure) develop chronic hepatitis or post-hepatitis cirrhosis. Chronic severe hepatitis (liver failure) has the highest mortality rate, which can reach over 80%, and the condition of survivors may relapse many times.