[Significance of hypo-osmolar diets for oral nutrition build-up in very severe malabsorption--clinical observations exemplified by infants with subtotal small intestine resection].

Regenerative and adaptive processes of the gut are apparently analogous to the absorption rate in small bowel diseases. These processes can be enhanced by the prolongation of passage time which, in turn, is influenced by the osmolality of the formula diet. Since infants who have undergone a subtotal bowel resection, like other children with serious diseases of the small bowel, are extraordinarily sensitive to hyperosmolar food, any preparation with special indications should be balanced and rendered hypoosmolar in full caloric concentration. Such formulas may well facilitate food supply to infants and, in case of short bowel syndrome, encourage more pronounced morphologic adaptation.