Patients with liver disease from drinking "need more support to survive"

Patients with alcohol-related liver disease (ALD) tend to have worse outcomes than others after a stay in intensive care, according to research.

A study has found that two-thirds of people with ALD who were admitted to an intensive care unit survived for less than a year afterwards.

Experts said the findings highlight the need for increased support for ALD patients after they leave hospital.

A team at the University of Edinburgh looked at the anonymised records of more than 8,000 ICU admissions in Scotland over a six-year period.

They concluded that patients with ALD were 31% more likely to die in the five years following a stay in intensive care, compared with those with severe heart, lung or kidney disease and other patients of a similar age and background.

ALD survivors were also more likely to undergo an emergency admission to hospital within five years after their time in ICU, compared with people with other conditions, researchers found.

Almost half of those emergency visits were linked to alcohol or liver problems, which highlights the long-term issues faced by patients living with addiction, the research team added.

Dr Nazir Lone, senior clinical lecturer in critical care at the University of Edinburgh, who led the study, said: “Alcohol-related liver disease is often associated with stigma in society.

“Our findings underline the need for better community services for alcohol addiction and management of long-term conditions.

“We hope that these findings will also help inform discussions between patients and doctors before they become critically ill so that they receive care in line with their wishes.”

The study, funded by the chief scientist office in Scotland, is published in Critical Care Medicine.