AN ANALYSIS OF RISK FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH LIVER ABSCESS

Abstract

Introduction:Liver abscess is a common clinical entity and a significant health concern frequently encountered in the daily emergency admissions in Indian hospitals. Despite the introduction of minimally invasive techniques in its management, liver abscesses still contribute to the significant morbidity in the affected patients. We performed this study to analyze the role of various risk factors contributing to the development of liver abscess in the present world. Materials and Methods: The study was a hospital based descriptive, Cohort study performed in Government Medical College Jammu. All patients with ultrasonography or Computed tomography documented liver abscess presenting to the out patient department of Govt. Medical College Jammu were included in the study. The patients were admitted and were evaluated for the presence of various risk factors related to the disease with a particular focus on Alcohol intake, Diabetes, Age, Intravenous drug abuse and smoking. Results Observations: In a total of 100 patients included in our study, 93 were males and 7 were females.75 out of 100 patients with liver abscess were alcoholic and all were males in our study. While 54 patients in our study were diabetic we noticed that about 29 patients had poorly controlled diabetes with HbA1c > 7 and 17 had HbA1c between 6-7. Only one patient had HbA1c <6 in our study but he was a chronic Alcoholic. 47 patients in our study were Alcoholic with diabetes and most of these patients had HbA1c values between 6-8. 61.7% of such patients had HbA1c between 7-8 while as 36.2% had values between 6-7. 6 patients in our study had history of IV drug abuse and all were alcoholic also. 9 patients in our study who presented with more toxic symptoms had viral hepatitis. Conclusion: we concluded that though diabetes with poorly controlled blood sugar is a significant risk factor for the development of liver abscess. The significant burden of the disease in the community is due to synergistic effect of alcoholism and diabetes in individuals. We suggest that all alcoholic patients with diabetes should have a strict regulation of their blood sugar done with 4 monthly HbA1c levels not allowed shoot beyond 6 U/dl.