Publication:

Effectiveness and safety of lactulose retention enema in cirrhotic patients with grade 3 or grade 4 hepatic encephalopathy

Background Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is a complex, reversible neuropsychiatric syndrome. The present study evaluated the clinical effectiveness and safety of lactulose retention enema for the treatment of Grade 3 or 4 HE (West Haven Criteria, WHC) in Indian patients.

Methods This retrospective, open-label, uncontrolled cohort study was conducted at three study centers in India. Patients of either gender (18-65 years) admitted to the hospital with liver cirrhosis having Grade 3 or 4 HE were included. The primary endpoint was to evaluate complete reversal of Grade 3 and 4 HE after 24 h and 48h. The secondary endpoints were grade shift at 24 and 48 h before and after administration of lactulose enema, time to complete reversal of Grade 3 or 4 HE, and mortality. Safety was also evaluated.

Results Overall, retrospective records of 50 patients were evaluated. Complete reversal of Grade 3 or 4 HE was observed in a statistically significant (p<0.0001) proportion (95% confidence interval) of patients at 24 h (n=40, 80% [66. 3%-90.0%]) and 48 h (n=45, 90% [78. 2%-96.7%]) after treatment. After 24 h of treatment, majority of the patients were noted with Grade 2 (78%) HE. Further improvement was noted after 48 h of treatment with majority of the patients having Grade 2 (40%) and Grade 1 (48%) HE. Mean (SD) time for complete reversal of Grade 3 or 4 HE was 25.39±8.85 h after treatment. All death cases observed (n=6, 12.0%) were assessed as unrelated to the treatment by the investigator, but rather related to the underlying disease and/or precipitating factors. Four non-serious adverse drug reactions in two patients and one rectal device-associated complication in one patient were noted during the patient record reviews.

Conclusions Lactulose retention enema was clinically effective and resulted in complete reversal of Grade 3 or 4 HE in the majority of patients. It was overall well-tolerated.