What's new in the treatment of ascites and spontaneous bacterial peritonitis.

In recent years, there have been important advances in the clinical management of ascites and its related complications, such as hyponatremia, hepatorenal syndrome (HRS), and spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP). Moreover, new drugs are currently being investigated for their potential usefulness in managing these complications. This article is not intended to comprehensively review all the literature published in recent years; rather, the authors discuss only studies they believe represent a potentially significant advance in this field. The following review is divided into two parts; the first discusses ascites and renal function abnormalities, including hyponatremia and HRS, and the second discusses SBP management.