Assessment of the Therapeutic Effect of Polyethylene glycol and Lactulose in Patients with Hepatic Encephalopathy

Background: The mechanism of cerebral dysfunction in hepatic encephalopathy is unknown, although ammonia produced by intestinal bacteria is an essential factor. This study was performed to compare the effect of polyethylene glycol with lactulose in patients with hepatic encephalopathy. Materials and Methods: In this interventional study, which was performed as a three-blind randomized clinical trial, 60 patients with hepatic encephalopathy referred to Imam Hossein Hospital in Tehran were randomly selected and divided into two groups receiving polyethylene glycol or lactulose were divided and the levels of creatinine, ammonia, platelets, hemoglobin, albumin and bilirubin and Hepatic Encephalopathy Scoring Algorithm, Model for End-Stage Liver Disease and Child-Turcotte-Pugh scores in the patients were compared in the two groups. Results: The results showed the frequency distribution of creatinine, ammonia, platelets, hemoglobin, albumin, and bilirubin and Hepatic Encephalopathy Scoring Algorithm, Model for End-Stage Liver Disease, and Child-Turcotte-Pugh scores of patients in the two groups were not statistically significant (P>0.05). Conclusion: In general, based on the results of this study, it is inferred that polyethylene glycol and lactulose have similar efficacy in patients with hepatic encephalopathy and, therefore, the use of each of them according to the condition of patients and the discretion of the treating physician Recommended.