The effective intervention by the registered dietitian who attended an e-learning training course on alcoholism diagnosis and multidisciplinary treatment of a patient with alcoholic liver cirrhosis

Abstract

A woman in her thirties with alcoholic liver cirrhosis had been treated as outpatient with oral medications, including branched-chain amino acids, and advised to abstain from alcohol and to consult a psychiatrist. Her laboratory data revealed anemia, dehydration, and malnutrition progression two years after the initial consultation and a computed tomography scan revealed the presence of fatty liver and ascites, resulting in hospitalization. The registered dietitian who took the e-learning training course on alcoholism diagnosis and treatment provided by the Japan Society of Hepatology administered nutritional therapy and guidance in addition to medical treatments. Continuous nutritional management and guidance care during hospitalization and after discharge for her resulted in improved nutritional status, reduced alcohol consumption, and improved liver disease severity. The results indicated the effectiveness of the intervention by e-learning-trained, registered dietitians in the multidisciplinary treatments of patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis.