From Listing to Recovery: A Review of Nutritional Status Assessment and Management in Liver Transplant Patients

• Published in: Nutrients Vol. 15; no. 12; p. 2778
• Main Authors: Ravaioli, Federico, De Maria, Nicola, Di Marco, Lorenza, Pivetti, Alessandra, Casciola, Riccardo, Ceraso, Carlo, Frassanito, Gabriella, Pambianco, Martina, Pecchini, Maddalena, Sicuro, Chiara, Leoni, Laura, Di Sandro, Stefano, Magistri, Paolo, Menozzi, Renata, Di Benedetto, Fabrizio, Colecchia, Antonio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.06.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: ACLD; advanced liver diseases; Alcoholism; Ammonia; Autophagy; Bile; Chronic illnesses; chronic liver disease; Clinical outcomes; Comorbidity; Etiology; Fatty acids; Humans; Liver; Liver cirrhosis; Liver Diseases; Liver transplantation; Liver Transplantation - adverse effects; Liver transplants; Malnutrition; Malnutrition - diagnosis; Malnutrition - etiology; Malnutrition - therapy; Metabolism; Monitoring; Musculoskeletal system; Nutrition; Nutrition Assessment; Nutritional Status; Obesity; Organ transplant recipients; Parenteral nutrition; Product/Service Evaluations; Prognosis; Protein synthesis; Proteins; Quality of life; Review; Sarcopenia; Surgery; Telemedicine; Transplantation; Weight control; malnutrition; nutrition; bariatric surgery; ACLD; chronic liver disease; transplant; advanced liver diseases; cirrhosis; liver transplantation; sarcopenia
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu15122778

Liver transplantation (LT) is a complex surgical procedure requiring thorough pre- and post-operative planning and care. The nutritional status of the patient before, during, and after LT is crucial to surgical success and long-term prognosis. This review aims to assess nutritional status assessment and management before, during, and after LT, with a focus on patients who have undergone bariatric surgery. We performed a comprehensive topic search on MEDLINE, Ovid, In-Process, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and PubMed up to March 2023. It identifies key factors influencing the nutritional status of liver transplant patients, such as pre-existing malnutrition, the type and severity of liver disease, comorbidities, and immunosuppressive medications. The review highlights the importance of pre-operative nutritional assessment and intervention, close nutritional status monitoring, individualised nutrition care plans, and ongoing nutritional support and monitoring after LT. The review concludes by examining the effect of bariatric surgery on the nutritional status of liver transplant recipients. The review offers valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities for optimising nutritional status before, during, and after LT.