Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Aug 6, 2024; 12(22): 4956-4964
Published online Aug 6, 2024. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v12.i22.4956
Risk factors for secondary infection after liver failure and effect of comprehensive nursing intervention
Wen-Wen Zhang, Li Chen, Yu-Fang Wu
Wen-Wen Zhang, Li Chen, Yu-Fang Wu, Department of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215000, Jiangsu Province, China
Author contributions: Zhang WW, Chen L and Wu YF designed the study and were involved in the data acquisition and writing of this article; Zhang WW and Wu YF contributed to the analysis of the manuscript; and all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Ethic Committee of The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University.
Informed consent statement: The written informed consent was waived owing to the retrospective and deidentified nature of this study.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors who have taken part in this study have nothing to disclose.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Yu-Fang Wu, BMed, Chief Nurse, Department of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, No. 899 Pinghai Road, Suzhou 215000, Jiangsu Province, China. sudawuyufang@163.com
Received: April 1, 2024
Revised: May 22, 2024
Accepted: June 5, 2024
Published online: August 6, 2024
Processing time: 91 Days and 18.8 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

In patients with liver failure (LF), the high rate of secondary infections, which are associated with poor prognosis, highlights the clinical significance of understanding the underlying risk factors and implementing targeted intervention programs.

AIM

To investigate risk factors for secondary infections in patients with LF and evaluate the effectiveness of comprehensive nursing interventions.

METHODS

This retrospective study included 64 patients with LF, including 32 with and 32 without secondary infections. A questionnaire was used to collect data on age; laboratory parameters, including total and direct bilirubin, prothrombin time, blood ammonia, and other biochemical parameters; invasive procedures; and complications. Patients with secondary infections received comprehensive nursing intervention in addition to routine nursing care, whereas those without secondary infections received only routine nursing care to compare the effect of nursing intervention on outcomes.

RESULTS

The infection rate, which was not associated with age or complications, was significantly associated with biochemical parameters and invasive procedures (P < 0.05). The infection rate was 61.6% in patients who had undergone invasive procedures and 32.1% in those who had not undergone invasive procedures during the hospital stay. The infection rate was also significantly associated with the type of LF (P < 0.05), with the lowest rate observed in patients with acute LF and the highest rate observed in those with subacute LF. The nursing satisfaction rate was 58.3% in the uninfected group and 91.7% in the infected group, indicating significantly higher satisfaction in the infected group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

In patients with LF, the rate of secondary infections was high and associated with biochemical parameters and type of LF. Comprehensive nursing intervention can improve patient satisfaction.

Keywords: Liver failure; Secondary infection; Comprehensive nursing; Risk factors; Intervention effect

Core Tip: This study focused on approaches for early and effective prevention of infections, improvement of outcomes in patients with liver failure, and comprehensive disease assessment to improve understanding of the disease. Our findings revealed that comprehensive nursing intervention improves the curative effect and patient satisfaction.