Complicaciones más comunes de la cirrosis hepática y su impacto en la mortalidad en pacientes hospitalizados del Hospital General IESS Milagro, 2023-2024.

Abstract

Liver cirrhosis represents one of the liver pathologies with the highest incidence of mortality in the population. The natural history of the disease divides this pathology into two stages: its compensated or asymptomatic phase, where the basis of its pathophysiology occurs; with the increase in blood flow resistance at the intrahepatic level, the pressure gradient of the portal vein increases, giving way to the development of Portal Hypertension. This leads to its decompensation phase, which has a higher lethality rate, and it is here where complications appear. This study aimed to determine the frequency and mortality of complications in patients with a diagnosis of liver cirrhosis hospitalized at the Hospital General Milagro during the years 2023 and 2024. A retrospective study was conducted through the review of clinical records; our sample consisted of a total of 150 patients where strict inclusion criteria were analyzed, such as having a diagnosis of cirrhosis coupled with one of its complications with the corresponding ICD-10 code for esophageal varices, ascites, hepatic encephalopathy, spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, and hepatorenal syndrome. Deceased patients were not excluded from the analysis of results. Once the results were analyzed, the findings show that the complication that develops most frequently is ascites with 48%, followed by esophageal varices with 40%. However, complications whose development occurs less frequently, such as hepatic encephalopathy and hepatorenal syndrome, present a higher number of deaths. In conclusion, the prevalence of complications presented by patients with cirrhosis is not directly proportional to its lethal outcome, taking into account that the co