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Indigenous cost-effective peritoneo-venous shunt for refractory ascites
K Marimuthu1, A Suresh Kumar, S Sabanathan
1Department of Gastroenterology, RIGID Hospitals, Kilpauk, Chennai, India.
Abstract:
About 5% of patients with chronic liver disease develop massive refractory ascites. These patients cease to respond to diuretic therapy and may develop prerenal azotemia. There is a small but definite role for the peritoneo-venous shunt in these patients. In our study of 36 patients, managed with locally made, single-valved peritoneo-venous shunts (GSAIMS shunts), shunt failure and complication rates were assessed postoperatively. There is a definite improvement in quality of life with this cost-effective locally made shunt if patients are selected carefully. Long-term follow-up of these patients is not possible because most of these patients succumb to advanced liver disease.