Cirrhosis of the liver is a chronic, progressive disease that leads to liver scarring (or fibrosis). Several factors can cause this scarring, including but not limited to alcoholism and hepatitis B and C.
The liver has a wide range of functions, including filtering toxins from your blood, producing bile to help digest food, helping with blood clotting, and storing vitamins and minerals.
Cirrhosis of the liver is a chronic disease that is caused by long-term damage to the organ. Cirrhosis can cause major complications, including liver failure, bleeding in the esophagus or stomach, or death.
Clients with cirrhosis most likely experience liver damage from:
The liver helps with digestion, detoxification, and blood filtering (about one liter of blood every minute). It also makes bile, which helps digest fat and stores red blood cells when they are not needed. Each time the liver is injured by excessive alcohol intake, medication overuse, or disease, it tries to repair itself.
In this process, scar tissue forms in place of healthy liver cells, which eventually hardens into nodes called fibrosis or cirrhosis. This scarring process can also cause nodules called hepatic adenomas. Severe cirrhosis complications could require a transplant, especially if the client experiences fluid build-up or bleeding in the stomach.
Memory Trick : Think liver cirrhosis – since normal healthy tissues get replaced with scar tissue, making the liver hard like a rock .
Clients with cirrhosis have an increased risk of developing liver cancer and intestinal bleeding, as well as experiencing other complications that can lead to death.
Symptoms of cirrhosis depend on how much scar tissue has formed in the liver. In the early stages, symptoms may be non-specific and hard to identify. Common symptoms include :
Other symptoms include :
Nursing interventions for cirrhosis are most effective when they are tailored to the individual client. Therefore, nursing interventions should focus on each client as an individual, considering the stage of disease, underlying risk factors, and problems.
As part of a nursing care plan for cirrhosis, nursing assessments and interventions could include:
The ABC s of the liver ( A lbumin, B ilirubin, C oagulation) will be low. This includes low calcium from the low albumin leading to the two classic signs: Trousseau’s and Chvostek’s .
Neomycin – Neomycin’s impact on the intestinal bacterial flora effectively lowers blood ammonia in cirrhotic clients – whether or not they have neurologic abnormalities. Lactulose – Lactulose is used to lower the ammonia levels in the blood. Ammonia is eliminated from the body by pulling it from circulation and into the colon.
During my exam, I could literally see and hear him going over different areas as I was answering my questions.
This past Friday I retook my Maternity Hesi and this time, I decided for my last week of Holiday break to just watch all of his OB videos. I am proud to say that with Mike’s help I received a score of 928 on my Maternity Hesi!
The liver aids in blood filtration, cleansing, and digestion (about one liter of blood every minute). It performs a variety of tasks, such as removing toxins from the blood, creating bile to aid in food digestion, promoting blood clotting, and storing vitamins and minerals.
When cirrhosis of the liver occurs, scar tissue replaces healthy liver cells. This tissue eventually hardens into nodules, known as cirrhosis or fibrosis. Because of the decreased blood flow brought on by the liver’s scarring, the nodules enlarge and eventually develop into tumors known as hepatic adenomas .
Clients with cirrhosis are more likely to have liver cancer, gastrointestinal bleeding, and other life-threatening consequences.
https://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/hepatic-and-biliary-disorders/fibrosis-and-cirrhosis/cirrhosis https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cirrhosis/symptoms-causes/syc-20351487
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