[Post-haemorrhagic encephalopathy in cirrhosis. Prevention by digestive irrigation with 100 mg/l mannitol (author's transl)].

Rapid digestive irrigation makes it possible to remove all the blood contained in the intestine of the cirrhotic suffering from a gastrointestinal haemorrhage. With this procedure, used 62 times during 110 haemorrhages occurring in 57 patients with portal hypertension due to cirrhosis, there was statistically significant prevention (p is less than 0.001) against complications of post-haemorrhagic encephalopathy, but there was no action where neurological and psychiatric problems had already developed. The excellent tolerance of mannitol in a concentration of 100 mg/l, and in particular the absence of any untoward effects on water and electrolyte balance, made it possible to reduce fluid intake to 2000 ml in 2 hours without diminishing its effectiveness, the technique thus being simple and easy to apply.