Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is a clinical condition that results in the decline of brain function as a result of severe liver disease. Rifaximin is an antibiotic of non-absorbable nature that is derived from rifamycin used for the HE treatment. The aim of this review was to determine the efficacy, safety, and outcomes of rifaximin in the treatment of HE. A systematic search was performed using PubMed database for clinical trials involving rifaximin and treatment of hepatic encephalopathy. Specific keywords were employed to obtain all possible results during the systematic research. The option to include clinical trials was selected in the database home screen to limit the search to clinical trials. The present study reviewed and analyzed five clinical trials that were published between the year 2010 and 2016. The selected studies were summarized based on the abstract of the study; author and publication year, study design, sample size, type of diagnosis, treatment regimen, and major findings. The current study found that rifaximin can be used for the treatment of minimal HE and HE. One dose of rifaximin is preferred for the treatment of HE, whereas in overt HE the combination therapy is the choice of the preference.
Key words: HE treatment, rifaximin, clinical trials, rifaximin efficacy
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