Treatment

Treatment of cirrhosis focuses on stopping or delaying the damage to a patient's liver and preventing complications (liver failure). The cause of cirrhosis determine the treatment. The only treatment for alcoholic cirrhosis is to stop drinking. In addition to causing cirrhosis, alcohol may accelerate the progression of liver scarring.

One of the main function of a liver is to fiter out toxin from the blood stream. Patient with liver cirrhosis may cause buildup of toxins in the blood and brain. Consuming protein causes toxins to form in the digestive system, by consuming less protein will help decrease the buildup of toxins in the blood and brain. Doctors may as well perscribe laxatives to help absorb toxins and remove them from the intestines.

Treatment of cirrhosis includes:

• Preventing further damage to the liver
• Preventing liver cancer or detecting it early
• Liver transplantation
• Treating the complications of cirrhosis
• Injections into veins to treat esophageal varices.
• A low-sodium diet or diuretics to reduce fluid accumulating in the body.
• Drugs to reduce itch.
• Drugs to reduce portal hypertension.

Liver Transplantation

Liver transplantation or hepatic transplantation is the replacement of a diseased liver with a healthy liver. The healthy liver is obtained from a donor who has recently died but has not suffered any liver injuries. The healthy liver is transported into a cooled saline solution which preserves the organ for up to 8 hours allowing analysis to ensure the donor's blood and tissue matching the recipient's blood and tissue. The diseased liver is removed through an incision made in the upper abdomen. The new liver is placed and attached to the patient's blood vessels and bile ducts. The operation is time consuming, can take up to 12 hours to complete and requires large volumes of blood transfusions to overcome blood lost during the operation. Eventought the recipient's blood and tissue matched the donor's, a liver transplant will be rejected by the recipient unless immunosuppressive drugs are used .