OBJECTIVES: Malnutrition is very common in patients with liver disease. The underlying liver disease will cause anorexia, nausea, and a poor appetite. Early recognition of micro or macronutrient deficiencies is essential, because the use of nutritional supplements reduces the risk of complications. Nutritional supplements should aim to maintain an adequate protein and caloric intake and to correct nutrient deficiencies. Enterex® HPT is specially formulated to help promote positive nitrogen balance and improve the nutritional status of individuals with liver disease while minimizing the risk of hepatic encephalopathy. The objective of this study is to determine the cost-effectiveness of Enterex® HPT vs no treatment (not offering any specialized nutrition intervention) in Mexico, from the institucional perspective.

METHODS: A cost-effectiveness analysis was conducted using a Markov model to assess the efficacy of the treatments, defined as the progression free of the disease and the costs associated. The time horizon was 12 months.

RESULTS: Tha basecase analysis incates that Enterex® HPT is a dominant alternative. Enterex® HPT provides saving for $4,462 USD per patient per year ($5,6761 vs $61,223), menawhile most patients are likely to progrees when no specialized nutrition supplement (Enterex® HPT) is used (0.79 vs 0.72). In a 5-year time horizon, for a cohort of 1,000 patients with liver disease, Enterex® HPT will generate savings reaching $2,231,000 vs no specialized nutrition supplement per patient, as about 350,000 patients will avoid progression.

CONCLUSIONS: Patients with liver disease using Enterex® HPT as a specialized nutrition supplement obtain important benefits like decreasing the risk of developing hyperglycemia, fatty liver and avoid hepatic failure progression.