[Short bowel syndrome and limits of small intestinal resections]

Short bowel syndrome (SBS) is a malabsorption syndrome resulting from anatomical or functional loss of a significantly long small intestinal segment. A loss over 80% of the small intestinal length is associated with increased urgency for supportive parenteral nutrition and results in reduced overall survival of the patients. The ileocaecal valve (valvula Bauhini) loss results in bacterial contamination of the small intestine, affecting tolerability of the oral, ev. enteral nutrition. The authors present a case review of a 27-year-old patient with repetitive small intestinal resections. The last procedure included the Bauhini valve and, finally, the patient has only 70 cm of the jejunum preserved.