Monitoring

[Breakfastbabe]

My husband was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis in 2019 when he saw a consultant. They asked for annual ultrasound and gastroscopy and gave him annual appointments. Due to Covid these were then done over the phone in 2020 and 2021. In 2021 they said the next appointment would be 2023 as he was still drinking. His stomach was very swollen but scans reported mild then moderate ascites. Last year they finally saw him face to face in November and immediately admitted him to do ascites tap. He had Peritonitis so needed antibiotics first. He was discharged with an appointment for this summer. His haemoglobin was very low and last week he had to have a blood transfusion. I feel he has not been treated well but would be grateful for other's views and advice on how often most people are monitored if they continue drinking. Thank you.

[Aotea2012]

They should be supporting him to stop, not ceasing regular checkups. It doesn’t sound very constructive, in fact it sounds way off NICE guidelines. He does need to stop…and there is support out there. If he’s been drinking for a long time just stopping is positively dangerous so I’d speak to his GP and get him referred to alcohol services asap. In terms of regular screening he should have six monthly bloods and ultrasound scans. He should also have a yearly or biannual endoscopy depending on whether he has varices.

[Breakfastbabe in reply to Aotea2012]

Thank you. He has stopped now so things are moving a bit more but we had to seek help elsewhere. He has annual endoscopy and gastroscopy but US is also annual.