Hospitalizations in Patients With Nonmalignant Short-Bowel Syndrome Receiving Home Parenteral Support

The objective of this retrospective cohort study was to assess the frequency, duration, and causes of hospitalizations in patients receiving home parenteral support (HPS) due to short-bowel syndrome (SBS) of nonmalignant causes. Furthermore, we aimed to investigate potential risk factors and hypothesized that patients with the shortest remnant, functional, small bowel-hence, the highest need for HPS-would have the highest incidence of hospitalizations.

Patients with nonmalignant SBS who initiated HPS in the period from 1970 to 2016 from the Department of Gastroenterology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark, were included. Information about demography, hospitalizations at the department, and duration of HPS was obtained from the Copenhagen intestinal failure database.

Patients (n = 331) received HPS for a total of 1409.9 years in the period. Hospitalizations accounted for 6.6% of the time registered as HPS-dependent. The average patient was hospitalized for 5.7% (range 0%-82%) of the registered HPS days. The incidence of admissions was 2.5 per HPS year. The median length of stay was 7 days (range; 0-387). Catheter-related complications were the most frequently registered causes of admissions (35.2%), subsequently accounting for 31.3% of the total admission time. A Cox regression of admissions showed no significant influence of the remnant-bowel anatomy but identified the ability to administer HPS unaided as associated with a significantly reduced hazard.

This retrospective study illustrated that 6.6% of the provided HPS days were, in fact, spent hospitalized. Since admissions elsewhere were not accounted for, this may be an underestimation.