My dad has chronic liver cirrossis and has been in the hospital for two weeks. His hemoglobin is stable but now he is having high fevers with all testing being normal. cxr cat scan, blood cultures. he is on avelox and becomes afebrile but then his fever jumps up again. Now his potassium is 2.9 he is recieving iv potassium. I am a nurse so I know alot of what is happening , but i wish i could figure out if all this is just due to the liver
Hi, Thanks for posting your query. Fever in a cirrhotic patient as common as in normal person but the only difference is that cirrhotic patient has decreased immunity. Kindly mention other symptoms along with fever. Does he have chest pain/ cough/ breathlessness/ sputum production? Does he have vomiting/ watery shit/ spasmodic abdominal pain? Does he have burning and increased frequency of urination? Fever occurring in body is associated with other symptoms also. Correct antibiotics' selection may prevent septicemia and proper treatment at time. You should consult with physician and should go for complete blood count, urine routine & microscopy, tidal test for enteric fever, malaria parasite examination. Lowering of potassium ion may cause decreased intestinal movement with development of paralytic illus. Take care,