[Parenteral nutrition using an arteriovenous fistula]

Seventeen children with extended resection of the small intestine, chronic intestinal adynamia or Crohn's disease were given prolonged parenteral nutrition through an arteriovenous fistula, exclusively of associated with enteral nutrition. This new technique allowed the patients to lead a normal life, with a normal growth. In more than 22 patient-years no infectious complication occurred. Thrombosis of the fistula remains the most important complication; il can be prevented thanks to a controlled infusion technique, including adjunction of platelet aggregation inhibiting drugs and the maintenance of proper hemodynamics.