Caring for Critically Ill Patients with Acute or Acute-on-Chronic Liver Failure

An SCCM guideline focuses on recommendations for critically ill patients with gastrointestinal bleeding or spontaneous bacterial peritonitis.

Sponsoring Organization: Society for Critical Care Medicine (SCCM)

Background

In 2020, the SCCM published recommendations (Crit Care Med 2020; 48:e173) focused on cardiovascular, hematologic, endocrine, renal, and pulmonary care of critically ill patients with acute liver failure (ALF) or acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF). Now, the society has published a second installment, which is focused on gastrointestinal bleeding and spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) in these patients.

Key Points

Critically ill patients with ACLF and any form of upper gastrointestinal bleeding should be treated with prophylactic antibiotics, usually third-generation cephalosporins.
Critically ill patients with ACLF and portal hypertensive bleeding should be trea…

Reviewing Author

Patricia Kritek, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsATS Scholar

Patricia Kritek, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsATS Scholar

Caring for Critically Ill Patients with Acute or Acute-on-Chronic Liver Failure

Topics

Background

Key Points

Reviewing Author