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Teduglutide, a glucagon-like peptide 2 analog, has demonstrated efficacy in treating adult patients with short bowel syndrome (SBS) and dependence on parenteral nutrition (PN), but its role in chronic malabsorptive states that do not necessitate PN remains uncertain. To evaluate teduglutide use beyond its approved indications and to discuss the results of this adjunctive treatment in patients resistant to established therapy. This series reports four patients treated with teduglutide off-label. The first case had Crohn’s disease (CD) with persistent colocutaneous fistulae that demonstrated complete closure after 8 months of teduglutide therapy. The second case involved a PN-dependent CD patient with persistent fistulae and intra-abdominal abscesses who weaned off PN and had a significant improvement in her nutritional status after 3 months of teduglutide therapy. The third case had CD complicated by severe malnutrition and previous PN-associated line infections, but by 9 months of teduglutide therapy, she gained 5 kg and no longer required re-initiation of PN. The fourth case had a high-output diverting ileostomy with resultant impaired healing of a stage IV decubitus ulcer, and after 2 months of therapy, the patient’s pre-albumin increased by 250% and the ulcer had decreased by 40% in size. The use of teduglutide might be broadened to include patients with functional SBS not meeting strict criteria for intestinal failure. Further studies should evaluate the efficacy of teduglutide in patients who may require short-term small intestine rehabilitation or who have chronically impaired absorptive capacity not yet requiring PN.

We report three cases of severe chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction after extensive bowel resection for Crohn's disease. The patients retained less than or equal to 150 cm jejunum in continuity with the left half of the colon and had no evidence of inflammatory activity in the remaining bowel. Total parenteral nutrition was required, since even very small meals caused abdominal distention, pain, and vomiting. Two patients had a sigmoidostomy constructed, which alleviated the symptoms and enabled a normal oral intake, but only temporarily in one of the patients. Even with a sigmoidostomy the patients needed supplementary parenteral nutrition because of severe malabsorption with high stomal output.

The effect of a long acting somatostatin analogue SMS 201-995 on stomal effluents in patients with severe short bowel syndrome was investigated in a double blind placebo controlled balance study. Six patients, five with Crohn's disease and one with radiation enteropathy were studied. Five patients had a jejunostomy and one an ileostomy. The patients had a normal food intake, but because of severe malabsorption had received home parenteral nutrition for several years. Faecal mass was reduced (p less than 0.005) and intestinal net sodium absorption was increased (p less than 0.005) by intravenous infusion of SMS 25 micrograms/h. Net absorption of potassium, calcium, magnesium phosphate, zinc, nitrogen and fat was not influenced. Subcutaneous injections of 50 micrograms SMS every 12 hours had a similar effect on net intestinal absorption of sodium and water. Four patients continued with a five to six months open follow up study when subcutaneous SMS in the same dose was administered by the patients at home. The effect on faecal sodium loss persisted, but in one patient faecal mass gradually increased and finally exceeded pretreatment values. SMS may decrease net absorption of water and sodium following reduced secretion of digestive juices rather than by increasing absorptive capacity. SMS may be useful as an antidiarrhoeal drug in patients with high output jejuno- or ileostomies, but in patients who need permanent parenteral nutrition the effect is too small to significantly alter management.

Total parenteral nutrition now permits long-term survival in patients after massive intestinal resection. Surgical therapy for the short-bowel syndrome is still largely experimental and cannot be recommended routinely. Thus, prevention of intestinal resection and conservation of intestinal length, when resection is necessary, should be emphasized. Strategies are presented that can be employed to preserve intestinal length when surgery is required in patients with a shortened bowel. These include strictureplasty, minimal resection, serosal patching, and intestinal tapering. In suitable candidates strictureplasty can relieve obstruction from strictures while avoiding resection. Minimal resection of involved intestine can be performed safely in selected patients with radiation injury or Crohn's disease. Serosal patching is an alternative to resection for the treatment of perforation or strictures of the intestine. Intestinal tapering can improve the function of dilated intestinal segments and eliminate the need for resection in intestinal atresia. The judicious use of these procedures can preserve intestinal length and obviate the need for long-term parenteral nutrition in patients after massive intestinal resection.