LiverPAL: A Trial of Inpatient Palliative Care for Patients With Advanced Liver Disease
Trial Parameters
Brief Summary
The goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate whether early integration of palliative care in the care of hospitalized patients with advanced liver disease (AdvLD) can improve patients' quality of life, physical symptoms, mood, and serious illness communication. Palliative care is a medical specialty focused on lessening (or "palliating") symptoms and assisting in coping with serious illness.
Eligibility Criteria
Patient Inclusion Criteria: 1. Hospitalized patient with a diagnosis of advanced liver disease, defined as cirrhosis with one of the following (new or ongoing) within the prior six months from date of consent: * Ascites (requiring diuretics or serial large volume paracenteses) * Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis * Hepatic hydrothorax (requiring diuretics) * Variceal bleed (with one or more occurrences) * Overt hepatic encephalopathy (requiring medications) 2. Ability to comprehend English Patient Exclusion Criteria: 1. Prior history of liver transplantation 2. Have uncontrolled hepatic encephalopathy, cognitive impairment, psychiatric disorder or other comorbid condition which the primary medical, hepatology, and/or transplant surgery teams believes prohibits the ability to provide informed consent 3. Current or recent (within 5 years of receiving curative cancer treatment) history of extrahepatic malignancy (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer) 4. Presence of hepatocellular carcinoma b