Decrease of cholestasis under "continuous extracorporeal stool transport (CEST)" in prematures and neonates with stomas.

According to recent studies, the percentage of neonates suffering a combination of very low birth weight (VLBW) and intestinal malformation or diseases that require surgery has increased. As opposed to mature newborn, split stoma is the therapy of choice in VLBW infants. These neonates and patients with other causes for a congenital or acquired short-bowel syndrome usually require parenteral nutrition and have a high risk of a cholestasis. Until 1993, stoma patients were treated with a special diet in our department, but depending of the stoma site often required parenteral nutrition, while the non-used distal bowel was irrigated with an isotonic electrolyte solution. With this regime, up to 38.5% of the treated patients (10126) were found to have a hyperbilirubinemia (> 3 mg/dl) after the 21st day of life. 1994, we started to use a device that continuously transfers the intestinal chylus from the proximal into the aboral bowel via a pump like a continuous extracorporeal stool transport (CEST). In this study, we evaluated the risk of cholestasis by comparison of the prospectively investigated group (CEST-group 1994-1998) of 33 infants with the results of the retrospectively studied group of 26 patients operated on between 1987 and 1993. We found a significantly lower risk of cholestasis in the CEST-Group (12.9% versus 38.5%; p<0.04). Only 3% of our patients with CEST (one patient) required permanent parenteral nutrition, compared to 50% of the conventionally treated patients.