Pain Management for Acute Liver Problems

The American Liver Foundation characterizes acute liver pain as sudden pain caused by varying degrees of liver disease. Liver disease starts slowly and gradually progresses to liver cancer and/or liver failure. The pain is considered acute in the beginning stages of liver disease, as in the pain hits with no warning and then subsides. In later stages of liver disease, the pain becomes chronic rather than acute and is more difficult to treat.

Stages

• The first stage of liver disease is simply inflammation, which is the body's initial response to try to fight off infection. Typically no pain is associated with this stage of liver disease because the inflammation cannot be seen or felt. Inflammation can then progress into fibrosis if it is not treated properly. Fibrosis causes scar tissue to form on the liver over time and gradually the scar tissue consumes healthy tissue. The scar tissue causes the liver to not function properly and forces the healthy tissue to work harder to perform the functions of the liver. If you manage to catch your liver disease in this stage, treatment can still help to reverse the disease over time. However, if left untreated fibrosis will become cirrhosis and at that point the liver damage is not reversible. It is also at this point that liver cancer is most likely to form. The final stage of liver disease is liver failure and the only treatment may be a transplant.

Liver Pain

• It is not uncommon for liver disease to go undetected until the cirrhosis stage due to the lack of symptoms. The inflammation stage and fibrosis stage typically do not cause any pain or any symptoms that can be felt or seen. During the cirrhosis stage, however, symptoms begin to present themselves, and the liver problems are generally considered to be acute liver problems. These symptoms include bleeding and bruising easily, water retention in the legs or stomach, jaundice, excessively itchy skin, blood vessel blockage, sensitivity to side effects of medication, insulin resistance, development of type diabetes, and toxin buildup in the brain that can affect other normal everyday activities and mental function.

  During the final stages of liver disease, liver failure, symptoms become much worse. Disorientation and confusion increases and you can become so sleepy you have the potential to enter into a coma-like state. Sudden death is quite possible at this stage in the liver disease process, which is why it is necessary to try to catch the liver disease at its earliest stages. At this point in the progression of your liver disease, often the only treatment is a liver transplant. While waiting for transplant, treatment will concentrate on preserving the areas of the liver that still function normally.

Pain Management

• Pain management for patients with liver disease often depends on the stage of the liver disease's progression. For later stages of liver disease and liver cancer, morphine and other pain relievers may be used. Acetaminophen should be avoided as the American Liver Foundation reports that some studies have shown excessive exposure to this type of medication can make liver disease worsen. Other pain management methods can be used that do not require medication. These other pain management techniques include behavioral therapies, emotional counseling, physical therapy, radiation, surgery, and neurological or neurosurgery interventions. Typically, pain for liver disease or liver cancer involves a delicate balance of both medication and non-medication treatments.