New procedure offers relief for short bowel syndrome patients

Doctors at Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital announced the success of a unique procedure on a lady with short bowel syndrome, a rare ailment with a mortality rate of up to 25 percent in infants and 47 percent in adults.

Short bowel syndrome is a disorder in which the body is unable to absorb adequate nutrients from food because a portion of the small intestine is absent or damaged. During digestion, the small intestine absorbs the majority of nutrients.

The standard treatments include parenteral feeding, which supplies nutrition through a tube to the stomach or small intestine, intravenous injections, and rehabilitative therapy, all of which have undesirable side effects.

Dr Li Yousheng of Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital introduced serial transverse enteroplasty (STEP), a unique bowel-lengthening treatment from the West, and began performing similar surgeries in the country.

This treatment lengthens the small intestine to increase usable surface area and narrows the gap, allowing food to move through patients' digestive tracts at a proper pace to improve function.

The 51-year-old woman had only 64 centimeters of small intestine tissue. She developed short bowel syndrome.

Medical tests conducted during her hospitalization in February confirmed her eligibility for the experimental therapy.

Following months of nutrition therapy, she underwent surgery on April 9 and received discharge two weeks later for rehabilitation and follow-up medical care.

Doctors stated that the hospital has devised a mechanism that covers the entire process of clinical nutrition, surgery, rehabilitation, and medication for patients with chronic intestinal failure.

"We are the country's only hospital with the largest number of STEP patients and the longest history of patient follow-up. We are the only facility in the country that participates in the International Intestinal Failure Registry (IIFR), which aims to provide accurate data on the outcomes and course of intestinal failure to support research, quality improvement, and policy development," Dr Li Yousheng said.

"Expatriate patients with such diseases can also visit our hospital for diagnosis and treatment," he said.