Pediatric intestinal failure and vascular access

Abstract

Emerging developments in the care of intestinal failure (IF) patients have drastically improved their overall prognosis, with recently reported survival rates over 90%. IF patients remain an extremely complex population who benefit from specialized, multidisciplinary care. Advances in the provision of parenteral and enteral nutrition, progress in the management of IF-associated liver disease with parenteral fish oil and catheter-associated blood stream infection with ethanol lock therapy, and the availability of novel surgical interventions, such as the serial transverse enteroplasty procedure, have made this a dynamic health care field with the promise of ongoing improvements in outcomes for these patients.