CARE OF PATIENTS WITH ASCITES

Ascites is the pathologic accumulation of fluid in the peritoneal cavity. The condition develops most frequently as part of the decompensation of previously asymptomatic chronic liver disease (Table 1). Ascites is the most common complication of such disease, occurring in 50 percent of patients within 10 years of a diagnosis of compensated cirrhosis; in comparison, variceal bleeding develops in only 25 percent2. The development of fluid retention in a person with chronic liver disease is a poor prognostic sign; only 50 percent of such people survive two years3. The prognosis of patients with noncirrhotic ascites is quite variable… © 1994, Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved.