Clinical Pearls: Liver Failure

Oh the ways the liver can fail. As a new nurse practitioner this one was hard to get down. Cardiology is generally seen as the bee all end all when it comes to keeping our bodies running, but I’d like to talk about the under appreciated liver. Hepatology is fascinating because the normal function of the liver is supremely multi-faceted. Throw in a little pathology and any number of pathways can be deranged and within those any degree of severity can be seen. From acute to chronic to acute-on-chronic, severity can run the gamut. Decompensated cirrhosis is a common killer in most ICU’s. Given how poorly understood this disease state is, I’d like to talk about the complexity, progression, prognosis, and management of liver failure in the intensive care unit.