Can you recover from drug-related liver injury?

  Pharmacologic liver injury refers to liver injury induced by various types of prescription or non-prescription chemical drugs, biological agents, traditional Chinese medicine, natural medicine, nutraceuticals, dietary supplements and their metabolites and even excipients, etc. It is one of the most common and serious adverse drug reactions, which can lead to acute liver failure or even death in severe cases. According to the characteristics of the disease process, drug-related liver injury is divided into acute drug-related liver disease and chronic drug-related liver disease.  The treatment principles include immediate discontinuation of the drug in question or suspected drug, promotion of liver damage drug clearance and application of detoxifying agents, application of hepatocyte protective agents, and treatment of liver failure.  1.Once diagnosed or suspected to be drug-related, all suspected liver-damaging drugs should be discontinued immediately, which is the key to treatment, and most cases can recover after discontinuing the drugs.  2. Pay attention to rest, and patients with severe disease should be absolutely bedridden.  3.Supplement sufficient amount of heat, protein and vitamins such as vitamin C, E and B to facilitate liver cell repair and regeneration.  4.Patients with acute poisoning can take measures such as gastric lavage, diarrhea and activated carbon adsorption to eliminate the residual drugs in the stomach and intestines, and use hemodialysis, abdominal dialysis, blood perfusion and plasma exchange to quickly remove the drugs from the body.  5.According to the patient’s clinical condition, anti-inflammatory and hepatoprotective drug therapy can be selected appropriately, and in principle, the drugs should be streamlined as much as possible.  6.Medical support therapy, if necessary, artificial liver support therapy can be considered. For those with severe disease and rapid progress, liver transplantation may be the only effective treatment measure.  Generally speaking, if acute drug-related liver damage can be diagnosed and discontinued in time, the prognosis is mostly good. After appropriate treatment, most of the liver function gradually returns to normal within 1 to 3 months. Chronic drug-related liver damage is often not diagnosed and discontinued in time and the prognosis is not good.