Nutrition therapy: Integral part of liver transplant care

Core Tip

Core tip: Cirrhotic patients are frequently malnourished before liver transplantation (LTx) and this is associated with a poor prognosis. Emerging research has also demonstrated that sarcopenia pre and post-transplant is highly prevalent, despite the weight gain in the postoperative period. The diagnosis of the nutritional status is the first step to address the adequate nutritional therapy. Nutritional recommendations and therapy to manage the nutritional status of LTx patients are discussed in this review. Nutrition associated complications observed after transplantation is also described. Excessive weight gain and post-transplant metabolic disorders have long been described in post-LTx and should be addressed to reduce associated morbidity/mortality.