Gastrointestinal bleeding is a common complication and cause of death in patients with cirrhosis. Eating fish is often one of the factors that trigger bleeding. In the past, it was thought that the bleeding was caused by the fish puncturing the varicose veins of the esophagus. It now appears that changes in the body's clotting function as a result of consuming certain fish may be a more important cause.

Some fish have been reported to contain a substance called eicosapentaenoic acid. One of the metabolites of eicosapentaenoic acid -- prostacyclin can inhibit platelet aggregation, and cirrhotic patients with impaired coagulation factor production, platelet count would have been lower, if eating fish containing eicosapentaenoic acid, platelet coagulation is reduced, it is easy to cause bleeding, bleeding is difficult to stop.

The content of eicosapentaenoic acid in different fish varies greatly. Such as sardines, mackerel, swordfish and tuna, the content is more, while the content of real silk fish, halibut, carp, etc. is much less. So some patients with cirrhosis, in order to increase the body protein to eliminate ascites, consume carp soup, will not induce bleeding. However, the fish containing more eicosapentaenoic acid should not be consumed.