Intestinal Failure in Infants~~~~ Intestinal failure is a rare but potentially life-threatening condition that affects three to five of every 100,000 infants. It is most often caused by a shortened or dysfunctional bowel. Children with intestinal failure are unable to absorb nutrients from food eaten normally through the mouth. Intravenous nutrition is used as a bridge to nourish them until the intestine can be repaired or it recovers naturally. This normally consists of a mix of sugar, protein, and fat from soybean oil that is injected through a small tube into a vein in the child. However, soybean-based intravenous nutrition has been associated with a risk for liver disease related to intestinal failure. Treatment for that complication may require potentially risky liver or intestinal transplant, or both. fish oil contains a different mix of essential fatty acids, including omega-3 fatty acids, from whats in soybean oil, normal breast milk, or formula. The fish oil treatment is also much more expensive than the traditional soybean oil. Fish Oil Reverses Liver Disease Earlier studies had already shown that replacing soybean oil with fish oil in the nutritional mix fed to children might reverse liver disease. But the length of time required for such treatment remained unclear, as did how long it would be safe to use. In addressing those issues, the new study, published in the Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, showed that six months of treatment with the fish oil-based nutrition was safe and effective in reversing intestinal-failure-related liver disease in 10 children at high risk for transplant or death. The researchers, who were from the pediatrics department at UCLA, found that 80 percent of children treated with fish oil experienced a reversal of their liver disease within 17 weeks of starting treatment. That’s compared with 5 percent of children in a historical comparison group who received soybean-oil-based treatment. The intriguing thing is they showed that at least some children were able to switch back to soybean lipid therapy at some point and maintain normal liver function. The next step, is further study to confirm when it’s safe to transition children back to soybean-based or normal nutrition. Long-term follow-up of the children treated with fish-oil-based intravenous nutrition is also needed to see how it affects their development.
Posted on: Thu, 23 Jan 2014 07:45:13 +0000
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