Nutritional management of acute and chronic liver disease

Malnutrition is prevalent in all forms of liver diseases. A number of factors contribute to malnutrition in patients with hepatic failure. Early diagnosis of malnutrition is essential to allow appropriate treatment, since malnutrition is an important predictor of complications of liver disease and mortality. Disease-specific nutritional therapy should be considered for acute liver failure, sepsis, transplantation, and encephalopathy. This article provides an overview of the nutritional management of acute and chronic liver disease and discusses the need for further intervention studies before appropriate rational treatment guidelines can be formulated.