Sarcopenia is a common complication of
liver cirrhosis and is significantly associated with poor
prognosis. Transjugular intrahepatic
portosystemic shunt (
TIPS) is an important
method for the
treatment of
portal hypertension and its
complications. Based on current studies, this article analyzes the
association between
sarcopenia and the outcomes (
hepatic encephalopathy and
mortality) of
patients with
liver cirrhosis after
TIPS and the value of improving the predictive
ability of existing prognostic models for
sarcopenia, as well as the improvement in
sarcopenia after
TIPS and its significance in the clinical management of
patients with
liver cirrhosis. A comprehensive
analysis of existing
reports show that baseline
sarcopenia is associated with poor
prognosis after
TIPS, and it is thus recommended to evaluate
nutritional status before
TIPS based on radiological examination;
TIPS can improve
nutritional status and help to achieve reversal or improvement of
sarcopenia to a certain extent, and it can also be translated into
survival benefit. Therefore, for
patients with
sarcopenia and a relatively stable
disease,
TIPS can be performed as soon as possible after comprehensive evaluation.