Preventive and Treatment Interventions for Abdominal Ascites of Patients with Liver Cirrhosis: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials

AIM: This systematic review aimed to evaluate the efficacy of preventive and therapeutic approaches used in the management of ascites in liver cirrhosis. METHOD: Literature review was done in “Scopus, Web of Science, CINAHL, ScienceDirect, PubMed MEDLINE, Ulakbim National Database, and Cochrane Library” databases using the keywords, “ascites, refractory ascites, liver cirrhosis, intervention, prophylaxis, treatment, nursing management, prevention, ascites management, randomized controlled trials,” and 2,447 articles were obtained. The studies with low bias risk were included. This systematic review was planned by following the recommendations of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA-P) 2015 statement. RESULTS: A total of 11 randomized controlled trials were included. When the included studies were examined, ascites treatment approaches were evaluated in all of the studies; however, preventive approaches were not evaluated. It was found that mannitol, a diuretic drug, helps ascites management by contributing to weight loss, decrease in abdominal circumference, and urinary sodium excretion. The automatic low-flow ascites pump also reduced the need for large-volume paracentesis. There was a decrease in weight and abdominal circumference measurements when band compression was applied to the umbilicus. CONCLUSION: Therapeutic approaches were found to be effective. It was thought that the lack of nursing practices and the prevention of ascites formation in the abdomen was an important deficiency. Randomized controlled trials were recommended for the prevention of abdominal ascites formation and the side effects of treatment on the patient.