Body mass index changes after transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt in patients with cirrhosis

Abstract Background Patients with liver cirrhosis are often accompanied by portal hypertension and malnutrition, two common complications, which seriously affect the patient's treatment efficacy and life quality. Objective This study aims to investigate the effect of transjugular intrahepatic porto-systemic shunt (TIPS) on BMI and metabolism in patients with cirrhotic portal hypertension and the risk factors that affect the changes of BMI in patients. Method A retrospective study was performed to collect the basic information with pre- and post- TIPS. This study included 77 patients. For each patient we assayed body nutrition parameters-change of weight and body mass index, routine liver and kidney function tests, and free fatty acids. Besides, glucose and biochemical indexes were also evaluated in this study. We use analysis of variance and regression analysis to investigate the effect of transjugular intrahepatic porto-systemic shunt (TIPS) on BMI and metabolism in patients with cirrhotic portal hypertension and the risk factors that affect the changes of BMI and metabolic components in patients. Results After TIPS, there was significant improvement in weight, BMI, red blood cell count, blood platelet count, hemoglobin, and Child-Pugh score in patients with cirrhotic portal hypertension. The average weight and BMI increased by 3.2% and 3.4% after TIPS, respectively (P Conclusion This study suggests that patients with cirrhosis treated with TIPS may have improvement in overall clinical and physical status, as measured by increase in weight and BMI. Our data also indicates pre-TIPS blood ammonia is positively associated with post-TIPS BMI.