Factors affecting postoperative dietary adaptation in short bowel syndrome

To investigate factors that affect post-operative dietary adaptation in patients with short bowel syndrome.

It was reviewed post-operative nutritional courses in nine patients with less than 200cm of residual small bowel after bowel resection. Surgical factors affecting post-operative dietary adaptation were analysed in view of the post-operative weaning from parenteral nutrition (PN).

One of two patients with less than 50 cm of residual small bowel achieved oral feeding. This patient with 40 cm of residual small intestine, who had undergone small bowel resection 12 months previously, achieved oral feeding within one month. As a whole, only 2 patients failed to wean PN. One patient with 40 cm of residual small intestine, who had undergone total gastrectomy three months ago, failed to wean PN. The other patient with 160 cm of ileum without the stomach, duodenum, jejunum, ileocecal valve, or most of the colon after three consecutive bowel resections, failed to wean PN.

Tapering of PN was possible even in patients with less than 50 cm of residual small bowel, if they had undergone previous bowel resections and were provided with adequate PN for a sufficient time.