Skip to main content
. 2018 Mar 13;9(1):137–145. doi: 10.1016/j.jceh.2018.02.007

Table 1.

Published Studies on Episodic Hepatic Encephalopathy Treatment.

First author Year Study type Active treatment (s) Patients treated Period of treatment Objectives Main results
Simon Talero5 2013 Randomized controlled trial Albumin ev 26 (30) 4 days Amelioration/resolution of HE The percentage of patients without hepatic encephalopathy at day 4 did not differ between both groups (albumin: 57.7% vs. saline: 53.3%; P > 0.05). However, significant differences in survival were found at day 90 (albumin: 69.2% vs. saline: 40.0%; P = 0.02).
Sharma6 2017 Randomized controlled trial Lactulose + albumin 60 (60) 10 days Amelioration/resolution of HE Resolution within 10 days:
75% with lactulose plus albumin 53% in control group (P = 0.03).
Sharma7 2013 Randomized controlled trial Lactulose + rifaximin 63 (57) Amelioration/resolution of HE 76% of patients compared with 50.8% had complete reversal of HE (P < 0.004). There was a significant decrease in mortality after treatment with lactulose plus rifaximin vs. lactulose and placebo (23.8% vs. 49.1%, P < 0.05).
Rahimi8 2014 Randomized controlled trial Polyethylene glycol 3350-electrolyte solution (PEG) 25 (25) Hospitalization Amelioration of HE 21 vs 13 patients had an improvement of 1 or more in HESA score (P < .01).
Sidhu9 2017 Randomized controlled trial l-Ornithine l-aspartate (LOLA) 98 (95) 5 Amelioration/resolution of HE The grade of OHE was significantly lower in the LOLA group (compared to placebo) on days 1–4 but not on day 5. The mean time taken for recovery was lower in the LOLA group compared to the placebo group (1.92 ± 0.93 versus 2.50 ± 1.03 days, P = 0.002; 95% confidence interval −0.852 to −0.202).
Bajaj10 2017 Randomized controlled trial Fecal Microbiota Transplantation (FMT) 10 (10) 30 days Safety, cognitive improvement Eight (80%) standard of care participants had a total of 11 SAEs compared to 2 (20%) FMT participants with SAEs (both FMT unrelated; P = 0.02). Five SOC and no FMT participants developed further HE (P = 0.03). Cognition improved in the FMT, but not the SOC, group.

BCAA, branched chain amino acids; HE, hepatic encephalopathy.