[Short bowel syndrome and glucose tolerance]

There are different signs after extended small bowel resection. The length of the resected small intestine (size of resection), the location of the removed part (type of resection), the time after operation (stage of adaption) and the age of the patient define the severity and nature of complaints following small bowel resections. We examined the dynamics of glucose- and insulin level after oral and intravenous glucose administration to recognize the relation to the size of resection. We found a decreased basal insulin concentration and a diminished response of insulin after intravenous glucose load in patients with extensive small bowel resection. This reduced response after parenteral administration of glucose load we did not find in the ileum-resected group compared to control group. We can conclude, it is possible to get information about the size of small bowel resections by the intravenous glucose tolerance test.