Intestinal adaptation after massive intestinal resection

I did not realize that today is Thursday and the last time I wrote anything was Sunday.  Odd week for sure.

Wife found a website that speaks to Intestinal adaptation after massive intestinal resection.  Why we have never seen or read this before is kind of odd but have been told this by the GI doctor.  I believe it is true and is what has started to happen to me as of June of this year.

Anyway here is the website:  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15749794
and what some of it states.
Authors:   Weale AR, Edwards AG, Bailey M, Lear PA.

Source:  Department of Surgery, Southmead Hospital, North Bristol NHS Hospitals Trust, Westbury on Trym, Bristol BS10 5NB, UK. andy@weale.org.uk

Abstract

     Patients with short bowel syndrome require long term parenteral nutrition support. However, after massive intestinal resection the intestine undergoes adaptation and nutritional autonomy may be obtained. Given that the complications of parenteral nutrition may be life threatening or result in treatment failure and the need for intestinal transplantation, a more attractive option is to wean patients off nutrition support by optimising the adaptive process. The article examines the evidence that after extensive small bowel resection adaptation occurs in humans and focuses on the factors that influence adaptation and the strategies that have been used to optimise this process. The review is based on an English language Medline search with secondary references obtained from key articles. There is evidence that adaptation occurs in humans. Adaptation is a complex process that results in response to nutrient and non-nutrient stimuli. Successful and reproducible strategies to improve adaptation remain elusive despite an abundance of experimental data. Nevertheless given the low patient survival and quality of life associated with other treatments for irreversible intestinal failure it is imperative that clinical research continues into the optimisation of the adaptation.
PMID: 15749794 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] PMCID: PMC1743223 

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Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (95K).

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Some small humor for today.