[Ornidazole in the treatment of liver dysfunction associated to long-term parenteral nutrition].

AIM: to reduction the TPN-related hepatic toxicity with an anaerobicidal therapy (ornidazole in our case).

PATIENT: a 24-year-old male surgically treated for intestinal occlusion. He had been treated with abdominal radiotherapy for rabdomyosarcoma of embryonic urogenital sinus when he was five months old. It was found a great abdominal radiotherapy sequelae and occluded and perforated small-bowel loop that was resected. Postoperative time developed pelvic abscess and reoperation was performed. Severe intraabdominal inflammatory-adhesive process was noticed which included all the intestinal loops with multiple perforations. Attempts to release this situation was unsuccessful and several anastomoses, with some loop exclusions and a diverting loop jejunostomy were performed. In postoperative period he developed an enterocutaneous fistula and TPN was initiated. Higher and higher hepatic marker values were detected suggesting a progressive hepatotoxicity.

METHODS

anaerobicidal agent (ornidazole) and cyclic total parenteral nutrition as a therapy design were prescribed.

RESULTS

there were satisfactory showing a reduction in hepatic marker values (72.5% fall in alanine aminotransferase).

CONCLUSIONS

bearing in mind that some theories suggest that total parenteral nutrition may cause atrophic changes in the gut mucosa so giving rise to bacterial translocation, this anaerobicidal treatment designed could be assumed effective for attenuating TPN-related liver damage.