Getting the Gut to Grow: Nutrition Experts Help Children with Short Bowel Syndrome
Parents of children with short bowel syndrome measure their outcomes by the centimeters of intestine that remain after surgery. Many of these children live on intravenous nutrients and fluids, in combination with formula by a gastric tube in and a strict diet. All face daily challenges--infections, diarrhea and liver disease. Through a collaborative project with clinical researchers and a microbiologist in Canada, assistant professor Crystal Levesque of the South Dakota State University Animal Science Department hopes to help in finding a treatment that will help grow their intestines. Beginning its second year, the project has been supported by an annual $25,000 Maurice Shils Grant from the Nestle Nutrition Institute awarded through the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition Rhoads Research Foundation.