HYPOGLYCEMIA

PATIENTS WITH LIVER CIRRHOSIS

Abstract

Objective: To determine the frequency and severity of hypoglycemia in patients
with liver cirrhosis. Study Design: Cross sectional case series study. Period: Six months.
Setting: Liaquat University Hospital Hyderabad. Methods: All the patients of liver cirrhosis,
of >12 years of age and of either gender were evaluated for hypoglycemia by assessing the
glycemic status through random or fasting blood glucose level. The severity of liver cirrhosis
was identified according to the Child-Pugh classification whereas the severity of hypoglycemia
was grouped in mild, moderate and severe categories. The data was entered and saved in
SPSS and frequency and percentage was calculated for hypoglycemia in patients with liver
cirrhosis. The stratification was done for age, gender, hypoglycemia and severity of the disease
and hypoglycemia. The chi-square test was applied between categorical variables at 95%
confidence interval and p -value ≤0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results:
During six months study period, total 100 cirrhotic subjects were studied for hypoglycemia,
of which 59% were males and 41% were females. The mean ± SD for age in all (100)
cirrhotic patients was 42.33 ± 8.87 while the mean ± SD for age in male cirrhotic patients
was 44.06±11.45 where as in female cirrhotic subjects it was 39.92±12.55 respectively. The
hypoglycemia was observed in 67%, of which 45(67.2%) were males and 22(32.8%) were
females. The mean random blood glucose level in male and female hypoglycemic cirrhotic
patients was 67.88±8.43 and 65.62±6.75 while the mean fasting blood glucose level in male
and female hypoglycemic cirrhotic patients was 52.93±5.31 and 53.64±8.73 respectively. Out
of sixty seven hypoglycemic cirrhotic subjects 45(67%) were males and 22(33%) were females.
Of sixty seven, 32(47.8%) had moderate hypoglycemia while 30/67(44.8%) were in Child-Pugh
class B (p<0.05). Conclusions: The hypoglycemia was detected in patients with liver cirrhosis,
hence frequent blood glucose monitoring is one of the most important way to detect mild
hypoglycemia and prevent serious and severe episodes.