Can a liver abscess cause ascites?

Written by Zhang Wei Wei
Integrative Medicine
Updated on September 19, 2024
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Can liver abscess cause ascites? Some liver abscesses can cause ascites. Firstly, it must be understood why ascites occur. It is because the patient has poor resistance, internal infections, and is prone to worsened infections. A liver abscess involves significant energy consumption due to prolonged fever and intermittent fevers, which can reduce the liver’s capacity to synthesize albumin, leading to a decrease in colloid osmotic pressure within the blood vessels. This is accompanied by the formation of fluid accumulation in the abdominal cavity. Therefore, when a patient with a liver abscess develops ascites, there is no need to be overly anxious or nervous. Treatment can involve vigorous anti-infection measures, supplementation with albumin, and other supportive treatments to improve the symptoms and alleviate the patient's ascites, facilitating a quicker recovery.

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Integrative Medicine
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Principles of medical treatment for liver abscess

The principle is early diagnosis and early treatment, including the management of the primary disease, and then avoiding the occurrence of complications. Non-surgical treatment requires the use of effective and sufficient amounts of antibacterial drugs, proactive supportive care, and enhancement of the body's resistance. For a single larger abscess, it can be punctured and drained under ultrasound guidance, or continuously flushed and drained through percutaneous catheter placement, and treated with injection of antibiotics. However, the antibiotic treatment for liver abscess requires a sufficient amount and full course of symptomatic supportive care to suppress the spread of inflammation and facilitate rapid absorption of inflammation. At the same time, we can adopt some traditional Chinese medicine methods and treatment approaches to reduce swelling and drain pus, which synergistically enhance the treatment effect.

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Treatment of liver abscess

The treatment of liver abscesses is divided into medical and surgical treatment. Medical treatment mainly involves antibiotic therapy. For bacterial liver abscesses, especially during the acute phase when the inflammation is localized and an abscess has not yet formed, or there are multiple small abscesses, aggressive conservative medical treatment should be given. This involves the use of high doses of antibiotics and general supportive therapy to control the absorption of inflammation. The second method is antibiotics combined with percutaneous puncture drainage. For a single, larger liver abscess, aspiration of pus can be performed under ultrasound guidance. After aspirating as much pus as possible, antibiotics can be injected into the abscess cavity, followed by repeated punctures over several days, or a tube can be placed to drain the pus. When the abscess shrinks and the fluid output decreases, the tube can be removed. The third method is antibiotics combined with surgical drainage. For larger liver abscesses that have a potential to rupture and cause complications such as acute peritonitis and pyothorax, surgical incision and drainage should be performed urgently, alongside the use of systemic antibiotics. The fourth approach is antibiotics combined with surgical resection. For chronic liver abscesses, or those whose abscess walls do not collapse after drainage, leaving a dead space, or with sinus tracts that continually discharge pus without healing and where liver lobe destruction is severe with loss of normal functions, hepatic lobectomy can be performed.

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Can I drink milk with a liver abscess?

Patients with liver abscess can drink milk if they are not allergic to it. The main symptoms of a liver abscess are abdominal pain and irregular high fever, and it is considered a consumptive disease. For such diseases, we must strengthen nutritional support treatment and adopt a digestible, high-protein diet to achieve the purpose of rapid improvement and cure of the disease. Milk is a food with relatively high protein content and is also easy to digest. If there is no milk allergy, patients with liver abscess can drink an appropriate amount of milk. About 250ml per day is beneficial for the rapid recovery of the liver abscess and for improving the body's immunity.

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Can people with liver abscess eat chicken?

In principle, patients with liver abscess who are not allergic can consume some chicken soup, but it should be low in oil and salt, and lightly flavored. We can remove the chicken skin and then stew it lightly. Patients can drink small amounts of chicken soup multiple times to supplement their normal nutrition and enhance their immunity. Since a liver abscess is a consumptive disease, patients repeatedly experience high fevers, low fevers, sweating, and profuse sweating. They need foods that are high in protein and light to boost their immunity and promote a faster recovery from the disease.

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Liver abscesses are treated in the Department of Hepatology.

This is likely a common and frustrating issue for many patients who visit this hospital on a daily basis. As the name suggests, liver abscess is related to the department of hepatobiliary sciences. It can also be looked into by other departments linked to the liver, such as hepatology, infectious disease department, and even the department of traditional Chinese medicine. No matter which department you visit, you can initially undergo some routine blood tests, abdominal ultrasound, CT scans, etc., to determine the size and scope of the liver abscess, check whether it has ruptured or caused any bleeding. Subsequently, based on the doctors' initial diagnosis, you can be referred to the relevant department. If surgery is needed, the patient should visit the department of hepatobiliary surgery. If surgery is not necessary, the departments of infectious diseases, hepatology, or traditional Chinese medicine are all viable options.