Personalized Nutritional Intervention in Patients Undergoing TIPS Insertion for Refractory Ascites to Prevent Overt Hepatic Encephalopathy (SUPPRESS-HE)

June 3, 2026 updated by: Amine Benmassaoud, McGill University Health Centre/Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre

Personalized Nutritional Intervention to Prevent Overt Hepatic Encephalopathy in Patients With Cirrhosis and Refractory Ascites Who Undergo TIPS Insertion: A Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial (SUPPRESS-HE Trial)

This study will evaluate whether a nutritional intervention is better than another to reduce the incidence of overt hepatic encephalopathy in patients undergoing TIPS insertion for refractory ascites.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

50

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

  • Canada
    • Quebec
      • Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Diagnosis of cirrhosis
  • TIPS planned for refractory ascites
  • Being at least moderately malnourished

Exclusion Criteria:

  • TIPS insertion for other reason than refractory ascites
  • Budd Chiari Syndrome
  • Complete or cavernomatous portal vein thrombosis
  • Pre-TIPS recurrent or persistent overt hepatic encephalopathy
  • Use of lactulose or rifaximin in the last 4 weeks
  • Liver failure (MELD > 18 or Child Pugh score > 12)
  • Heart failure (NYHA ≥ III or LVEF < 50%)
  • Kidney failure (serum creatinine > 250µmol/L)
  • Pregnancy or breastfeeding
  • Previous Liver transplantation
  • Unable to provide informed consent

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Nutrition Intervention 1
As participants are blinded, description of the arm is meant to maintain the blinding. Participants will meet the study dietitian who will perform a nutritional assessment. The study dietitian will then prescribe a high-energy and high-protein diet with or without the use of oral nutritional supplements that will fit your taste preferences and dietary needs. The nutritional intervention will focus on having 3 meals per day and 3 snacks per day, including at bedtime.
Dietary supplement: High Energy and High Protein Diet 1
As participants are blinded, description of the intervention is meant to maintain the blinding. Participants will meet the study dietitian who will perform a nutritional assessment. The study dietitian will then prescribe a high-energy and high-protein diet with or without the use of oral nutritional supplements that will fit your taste preferences and dietary needs. The nutritional intervention will focus on having 3 meals per day and 3 snacks per day, including at bedtime.
Active Comparator: Nutrition Intervention 2
As participants are blinded, description of the arm is meant to maintain the blinding. Participants will meet the study dietitian who will perform a nutritional assessment. The study dietitian will then prescribe a high-energy and high-protein diet with or without the use of oral nutritional supplements that will fit your taste preferences and dietary needs. The nutritional intervention will focus on having 3 meals per day and 3 snacks per day, including at bedtime.
Dietary supplement: High Energy and High Protein Diet 2
As participants are blinded, description of the intervention is meant to maintain the blinding. Participants will meet the study dietitian who will perform a nutritional assessment. The study dietitian will then prescribe a high-energy and high-protein diet with or without the use of oral nutritional supplements that will fit your taste preferences and dietary needs. The nutritional intervention will focus on having 3 meals per day and 3 snacks per day, including at bedtime.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Incidence of overt hepatic encephalopathy
Time Frame: 6 months
6 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Changes in nutritional status using the PG-SGA scale
Time Frame: 6 months
6 months
Changes in brain function using the Stroop Test (EncephalApp)
Time Frame: 6 months
6 months
Changes in frailty using the Liver Frailty Index
Time Frame: 6 months
6 months
Changes in patient-reported outcomes using Chronic Liver Disease Questionnaire
Time Frame: 6 months
6 months

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Feasibility outcomes including recruitment rate and study completion
Time Frame: 6 months
6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

McGill University Health Centre/Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre

Collaborators

Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Amine Benmassaoud, MD, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

June 15, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

June 15, 2029

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 15, 2029

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 14, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 3, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

June 8, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 8, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 3, 2026

Last Verified

June 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • MP-37-2025-10963

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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