What it means
For a time, the body adjusts to many diseases, for example a failing heart beats faster and the kidneys hold fluid. When these adjustments are no longer enough, the condition is decompensated. "Acute decompensated heart failure" and "decompensated cirrhosis" are common examples. In mental health, it describes a worsening of symptoms in someone who had been coping.
For the nurse
Watch trends rather than single values: rising weight, heart rate or breathing rate, falling blood pressure or urine output, and new confusion can show a client is decompensating. Report them early.
At a glance
| Also written | decompensated |
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Related terms
heart failure
A long-term condition in which the heart cannot pump enough blood to meet the body's needs.
exacerbation
A time when a long-term disease suddenly gets worse, or its symptoms flare up.