Short bowel syndrome: parenteral nutrition versus intestinal transplantation. Where are we today?

Current management of short bowel syndrome (SBS) revolves around the use of home TPN (HPN). Complications include liver disease, catheter-related infections or occlusions, venous thrombosis, and bone disease. Patient survival with SBS on TPN is 86% and 75% at 2 and 5 years, respectively. Surgical management of SBS includes nontransplant surgeries such as serial transverse enteroplasty and reanastomosis. Small bowel transplant has become increasingly popular for management of SBS and is usually indicated when TPN cannot be continued. Posttransplant complications include graft-versus-host reaction, infections in an immunocompromised patient, vascular and biliary diseases, and recurrence of the original disease. Following intestinal-only transplants, patient and graft survival rate is 77% and 66% after 1 year. After 5 years the survival figures are 49% and 34%, respectively. Future improvements in survival and quality of life will enhance small bowel transplant as a viable treatment option for patients with SBS.