The healthcare provider prescribes lactulose for a patient with hepatic encephalopathy. What will the nurse assess to determine the effectiveness of this medication?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A.
Decreased ammonia levels<\/p>\n\n\n\n
B.
Relief of constipation<\/p>\n\n\n\n
C.
Decreased liver enzymes<\/p>\n\n\n\n
D.
Relief of abdominal pain<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Correct Answer and Explanation is:<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The correct answer is A. Decreased ammonia levels<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Explanation:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Lactulose is a synthetic disaccharide used primarily in the management of hepatic encephalopathy, a condition that arises due to liver dysfunction. Hepatic encephalopathy occurs when the liver is unable to effectively remove toxins, such as ammonia, from the blood. Ammonia is a byproduct of protein metabolism and, when accumulated, can have toxic effects on the brain, leading to neurological symptoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lactulose works by reducing the absorption of ammonia from the gut into the bloodstream. It does this through a two-fold mechanism: First, lactulose is metabolized by colonic bacteria into organic acids, which lowers the pH of the colon. This acidic environment converts ammonia (NH\u2083) into ammonium ions (NH\u2084\u207a), which are less readily absorbed. Second, lactulose acts as an osmotic laxative, which increases bowel movements. This helps to expel the ammonia from the gut before it can be absorbed into the bloodstream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To determine the effectiveness of lactulose therapy, the nurse should assess ammonia levels<\/strong> in the patient\u2019s blood. A decrease in ammonia levels is a direct indicator that the lactulose is working as intended, thereby improving the hepatic encephalopathy. Monitoring ammonia levels provides a clear, measurable outcome of the medication\u2019s effect on the condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While relief of constipation<\/strong> (B) is an expected outcome of lactulose due to its laxative effect, it is not the primary measure of its effectiveness in treating hepatic encephalopathy. Decreased liver enzymes<\/strong> (C) could indicate improved liver function, but these levels are not directly linked to the action of lactulose in managing hepatic encephalopathy. Relief of abdominal pain<\/strong> (D) may occur but is not a specific marker for the efficacy of lactulose in treating hepatic encephalopathy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thus, monitoring ammonia levels is the most appropriate method to evaluate the effectiveness of lactulose for this condition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The healthcare provider prescribes lactulose for a patient with hepatic encephalopathy. What will the nurse assess to determine the effectiveness of this medication? A.Decreased ammonia levels B.Relief of constipation C.Decreased liver enzymes D.Relief of abdominal pain The Correct Answer and Explanation is: The correct answer is A. Decreased ammonia levels. Explanation: Lactulose is a synthetic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-136104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-exams-certification"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136104\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}