Amoebic liver abscess and common complications

Liver abscess caused by amoeba is a common disease and causes dangerous complications. Complications of liver abscess caused by amoeba, if not treated promptly, can lead to death.

Amoebic liver abscess is damage to the liver tissue caused by amoeba. Amoeba is a single-celled protozoan that often causes disease in the lining of the colon and intestines and through this route enters other organs such as the liver to cause damage, which is an abscess.
Amoebic liver abscess is a mass containing purulent fluid, large or small in size, and may have one or more pus outbreaks. If not detected and treated promptly, it can cause many dangerous complications.

Liver abscess caused by amoeba has many types, of which there are 2 main types, typical (accounting for 2⁄3) and atypical. Depending on the stage, the symptoms of the disease will be different.
2.1 Typical amoebic liver abscess Symptoms of typical amoeba liver abscess:
Fever: The patient may have a mild fever from 37.5 degrees C to a high fever of 40 degrees C. This is a common symptom and appeared first. Pain in the liver and right lower quadrant: The patient can have pain ranging from mild pain, sharp pain to severe pain. Liver pain, hepatomegaly : When the liver increases in size (about 3 - 4cm), pressing on the right lower flank can feel pain. Fatigue, digestive disorders, weight loss, leg edema (instep, mild edema), pleural effusion, ascites. 2.2 Amoebic liver abscess atypical Amoebic liver abscess symptoms:
Afebrile form: The patient may have a complete fever without fever or only fever for a few days, then completely disappear ; After fever, the patient feels pain in the right lower quadrant, rapid weight loss. Prolonged fever: The patient may have a continuous or intermittent fever. No liver pain, liver is not enlarged. Jaundice: The abscess presses on the biliary tree and causes jaundice, leading to misdiagnosis with biliary tract abscess, cholangiocarcinoma, liver cancer. Hepatic failure: The abscess is too large to destroy half of the liver organization, causing edema ascites, liver dysfunction, leading to hepatic coma, even death. Left liver abscess: This form is difficult to diagnose, if the abscess ruptures, it can cause purulent effusion into the pericardium. Pneumothorax: This form is also difficult to diagnose or misdiagnosed with pleurisy. The liver abscess invades the pleura and causes a reaction. Pericardial effusion: This form causes symptoms of heart disease, so is often misdiagnosed as pericardial effusion. Liver cancer pseudotype: The liver is enlarged and hard (symptoms of liver cancer), the patient loses weight quickly.

Amoebic liver abscess can lead to dangerous complications such as:
Bursting into the pleura and lungs: The abscess is located at the top of the liver, on the right, when rupture can puncture the diaphragm, burst directly into the lung, purulent effusion into the pleura and lungs. Rupture into the pericardium: When ruptured, the abscess causes symptoms similar to cardiac tamponade or heart failure. The patient can die if not treated promptly. Intra-abdominal rupture: The liver abscess bursts into the abdomen and causes generalized peritonitis. Patients can go into septic shock and face a high risk of death if not treated promptly. Rupture into the digestive tract: The abscess burst into the stomach, colon, causing the patient to vomit or defecate with pus or blood for a long time. Other less common complications include superinfection of the abscess, prolonged pyogenic pus, rupture of the abscess or leakage of pus into the abdominal wall.

Treatment of amoebic liver abscess includes one or a combination of the following methods:
Medical treatment: Some commonly used drugs of the imidazole group such as metronidazole or tinidazole. Aspiration of the abscess: Under the guidance of ultrasound or computerized tomography, the patient is cleaned of pus in the abscess, then, drug is injected into the abscess to destroy the amoeba that causes the disease. Surgical treatment: Surgery is only applicable to cases where the liver abscess is too large to be aspirated, or failed in medical treatment. Depending on the size, location and number of abscesses, the extent of liver damage, the stage of the disease, the patient's condition, the doctor will choose the appropriate treatment method and the treatment results will vary.

Amoeba is a protozoan that causes disease in humans, which thrives in tropical climates. To prevent diseases caused by amoeba in general, including liver abscess, it is necessary to:
Wash hands, clean before eating. Wash vegetables and fruits before eating and processing. Drink clean, boiled water. Do not eat food that is undercooked, or left out for a long time, without covering the outside. Regularly clean, clean the place to live, live and work. If dysentery caused by colonic amoeba should be thoroughly examined and treated, to avoid the amoeba entering the liver causing abscesses and liver damage. Amoebic liver abscess is a dangerous disease because it can cause serious complications when the abscess ruptures.