Short Bowel Syndrome and Small Bowel Transplantation
Short bowel syndrome (SBS) is a malabsorptive condition resulting from extensive intestinal resection and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality, a reduced quality of life and high health care costs. The management of patients with SBS is complex and requires a multidisciplinary approach including dietary, fluid and pharmacological management, co-morbid disease management and, occasionally, surgery. An understanding of the physiological alterations that occur in SBS is useful to understand the treatments employed. In this chapter, these physiological alterations are discussed as are the roles of oral diet and fluid modifications, enteral and parenteral nutrition support, medications including trophic factors, and surgery including intestinal transplantation.
