Enteral and parenteral nutrition in the short bowel syndrome in children

Thirteen children, aged 2 to 16 years, had a subtotal resection of small bowel, following a mid-gut volvulus in 10 cases. All children are alive, and their growth is normal; 36 cumulative patient-years of parenteral nutrition and 11 years of constant-rate enteral nutrition were performed. In 7 cases, in which residual small bowel varied between 30 to 120 cm, termination of all artificial nutritional support was possible 30 months in mean after intestinal resection. In contrast, if resection was near total with less than 20 cm remaining, life-long dependence on parenteral nutrition is unavoidable unless intestinal transplantation becomes feasible. With cyclic parenteral nutrition at home, the patients' quality of life is near normal.