Regional experience in the treatment of children with short bowel syndrome

Abstract

Short bowel syndrome is a rare, chronic, debilitating, and potentially life-threatening condition in which loss of intestinal absorption capacity deprives children of the ability to absorb sufficient nutrients from the food they consumed. The authors describe regional experience of treating children with short bowel syndrome, which includes conservative and surgical approach, with an analysis of the leading causes, prognostic factors, timing of achieving intestinal autonomy, complications and catamnesis.Purpose. The study aims at analyzing cases of short bowel syndrome in children in order to improve the provision of medical care for children in the Republic of Tatarstan and the nearest regions.Material and methods. Single-center, retrospective study was conducted of 22 cases of children with short bowel syndrome who received treatment in the surgical department for young children in the State Autonomous Healthcare Institution Children’s Republican Clinical Hospital of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Tatarstan for the period September 2014 till November 2021.Results. The most common cause of intestinal resection in the study group were: congenital malformations in 7 children (32%), necrotizing enterocolitis in 5 children (23%), small intestine malrotation (Ladd’s bands) in 4 children (18%), mesenteric thrombosis in 4 (18%), Hirschsprung’s disease in 2 children (9%). By the end of the first year after diagnosis, intestine self-regulation was achieved in 17 children. The mortality rate was 9%.