Open AccessSerum ammonia use: unnecessary, frequent and costly
Author(s) -
Elizabeth S. Aby,
Andrew Olson,
Nicholas Lim
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
frontline gastroenterology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.919
H-Index - 13
eISSN - 2041-4145
pISSN - 2041-4137
DOI - 10.1136/flgastro-2021-101837
Subject(s) - hepatic encephalopathy , medicine , cirrhosis , ammonia , jaundice , gastroenterology , intensive care medicine , pediatrics , chemistry , organic chemistry
While ammonia plays a role in the complex pathophysiology of hepatic encephalopathy (HE), serum ammonia is unreliable for both diagnosis of, and correlation with, neurological symptoms in patients with cirrhosis. We aimed to quantify ordering, cost and appropriate use of serum ammonia in a major Midwestern healthcare system.