Medical and Surgical Aspects of Intestinal Failure in the Child.

Medical and surgical care for children with intestinal failure has evolved so that long-term life expectancy is common even in the setting of the shortest bowel lengths. The long-term administration of parenteral nutrition has become safe with alterations in lipid formulation, and the risk of liver injury has been dramatically reduced. Well-established techniques for bowel lengthening and tapering exist to increase the absorptive capacity of the remnant bowel. These advances allow for ongoing intestinal rehabilitation in the child with the ultimate goal of enteral autonomy while the use of intestinal transplantation in this population has declined in recent years.