[Parenteral feeding in cases of impaired liver function (author's transl)].

Patients with hepatic failure show pathological plasma amino acid chromatograms which closely correlate to the course of hepatic encephalopathy or hepatic coma. An improvement of the encephalopathy could be achieved by normalising the plasma amino acid levels. The conventional amino acid solutions used for feeding patients having hepatic failure do not allow for the special metabolic features of this condition, and with regard to hepatic encephalophathy they should not be used in parenteral nutrition. For the low-risk parenteral feeding of patients with hepatic failure, amino acid solutions must be used which meet both the problems of hepatic encephalopathy and the principles of parenteral nutrition.