Comparison of Efficacy of Zinc Supplementation and Standard Treatment with Standard Treatment Alone in Heptic Encephalopathy

Abstract

Objective: To compare the efficacy of combination of zinc supplementation and standard treatment with standard treatment alone in patient of hepatic encephalopathy. Study Design: Randomized Controlled Trial. Settings: Medical Department, Allied Hospital, Faisalabad-Pakistan. Duration: Six months study from 03-08-2013 to 02-01-2014. Methodology: All the patients having hepatic encephalopathy fulfilling the inclusion criteria were randomly collected and were assorted in two groups each having 45 patients and assigned as group A and group B. Group A was given Zinc Sulphate 600mg in 3 divided doses for one week plus standard treatment which includes; Ceftriaxone 1g IV BD, Syrup Metronidazole 2TSF TDS, Syrup Lactulose 2TSF TDS, Group B was given standard treatment alone. Information collected was comprised of name, age, sex, address and improvement of grade of encephalopathy after one week. Results: 90 patients were included in the study. Mean age of study population was 51.83 + 11.12 years. 61(67.8%) were male and 29 (32.2%) were females. Group A was given zinc sulphate and group B was given placebo. Mean age in group A was 52.96 + 12.32.  28(62.2%) were male and 17(37.8%) were females in group A. Mean age in group B was 50.71 + 8.38. 33(73.3%) were male and 12(26.7%) were female in group B. Chi-square test was applied to efficacy in group A and group B. (p-value 0.001) which is highly significant. Conclusion: It has been concluded from this study that zinc supplementation significantly improves hepatic encephalopathy in patients with liver cirrhosis.