Liver Center

Intestinal Rehabilitation Clinic

The most frequent manifestations include growth delay, nutritional deficiencies, malabsorptivest frequent medical manifestations of SBS include growth delay, nutritional deficiencies, malabsorptive diarrhea, liver disease, bacterial overgrowth in the intestines, and oral feeding aversions.

The multidisciplinary services offered by this clinic include gastroenterology, home parenteral nutrition prescriptions and coordination with home healthcare, hepatology (liver disease), nutrition, surgery, social services, and a vascular access team.

Short bowel syndrome is a congenital or acquired condition characterized by the inability of the intestine to absorb sufficient nutrients and calories to maintain normal growth. Although SBS can occur at any age, it is most often seen in premature infants, some of who may require long-term intravenous nutrition (parenteral nutrition, TPN) to achieve weight gain and growth. Causes of SBS include intestinal atresias, gastroschisis, necrotizing enterocolitis, and intestinal volvulus, among others.

Over 150 patients with SBS are seen annually in the Intestinal Rehabilitation Clinic with over 30 home parenteral nutrition prescriptions managed by our multidisciplinary team on a weekly basis. Our team is well-known and established in the field of SBS and prepared to offer access to some of the most sought-after treatments for even the most extreme SBS cases, including:

• Serial Transverse Enteroplasty ("STEP") bowel-lengthening procedure
• Lipid minimization protocols to avoid TPN-associated liver disease
• IRB-approved protocol for Omegaven® fish oil-derived lipids for TPN-associated liver disease
• Ethanol lock protocols to limit catheter-associated bloodstream infections
• Clinical trials such as Gattex® (Teduglutide), a GLP-2 analogue that is already approved for adult SBS and is actively being investigated for use in the pediatric setting