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An approach is presented for treating infants who develop 'short gut colitis', or inflammation of the small intestine in babies who have already developed short bowel syndrome. This is a condition in which digestion and absorption of nutrients is impaired because a significant amount of intestine has been lost due to disease or abnormal development. Total parenteral nutrition (TPN; the delivery of nutrients intravenously), a relatively recent therapeutic approach, has dramatically improved the outcome for most infants with short bowel syndrome. Some, however, develop short gut colitis. Sixteen infants (aged 2 to 20 months) with an average small intestine length of approximately 24 centimeters were studied. They had bloody diarrhea, which was not obviously the result of infection, as well as signs of poor carbohydrate absorption. All patients were fed both parenterally (via a thin tube inserted into a major vein) and enterally (by mouth) with formula. Their symptoms had begun when enteral feeding was being introduced. Examinations of the bowel (by sigmoidoscope) and biopsies were performed in several cases; the histopathological results (of tissue examination under a microscope) are presented. The infants' symptoms improved when enteral nutrition was given at less than full strength or stopped, implying that the colitis may have been a result of malabsorption of nutrients in the formulas. Suggestions are presented concerning the management of these patients and the medications that seemed most beneficial. Sulfasalazine appeared to be most effective in decreasing bowel inflammation. Short gut colitis is best treated soon after symptoms appear, and early treatment ultimately makes it easier to wean infants from TPN. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)