A 72-year-old male patient with tongue carcinoma was admitted because he could not eat due to intense lingual pain. We prescribed Ensure Liquid®, an enteral nutritional medication, for feeding control and morphine hydrochloride for pain control. His temperature became elevated to 39 degrees three days later, and hepatic function deteriorated. Morphine hydrochloride was continued due to the necessity for pain control, and only Ensure Liquid® was discontinued. Hepatic dysfunction and fever improved after discontinuing administration of Ensure Liquid®. This clinical course suggested that the hepatic dysfunction and fever were caused by side effects of Ensure Liquid®. Although the amount of Ensure Liquid® prescribed for the patient was within the normal standards, his liver function was suggested to be inadequate for metabolizing the medication.
