Why choose us?
The Pediatric Intestinal Rehabilitation and Transplantation program at Children's Memorial is one of few such programs in the nation dedicated entirely to the care of children.
Some highlights of our program:
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Our team is committed to avoiding transplant when possible by using medical, surgical and nutritional rehabilitation strategies to reduce or eliminate
total parenteral nutrition (TPN) dependence.
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Our program has a high success rate at eliminating TPN, a very low wait list mortality, and has excellent outcomes when transplant is indicated.
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Since the program's inception in 2003, approximately 80% of patients enrolled in our intestinal rehabilitation program have avoided
transplantation through intestinal rehabilitation.
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More than 85% of our currently active patients have been successfully rehabilitated and are off TPN.
Multidisciplinary team
Our Pediatric Intestinal Rehabilitation and Transplantation Program is especially focused on treating the whole child and family. Children with intestinal failure have a hard time maintaining normal growth, and our team is devoted to using novel surgical and nutritional approaches to avoid transplant when possible to help these patients maintain growth and nutrition. To that end, we have a dedicated, multidisciplinary team whose members each play a unique role in the care of patients with intestinal failure.
The team consists of:
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Pediatric gastroenterologists: Board-certified physicians who specialize in disorders of the gastrointestinal tract
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Pediatric transplant surgeons: Board-certified surgeons who hold dual credentials in transplant
surgery and pediatric surgery
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Advanced practice nurses: Nurses with advanced training beyond a Master of Science in Nursing degree who oversee the day-to-day care of patients and monitor their overall well-being
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Social worker: A licensed social worker who provides resources to promote your child's overall well-being here at Children's Memorial as well as in your home community
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Child psychologist: A board-certified psychologist trained in mental health and wellness
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Transplant clinical pharmacist: Holds a Doctor of Pharmacy degree and is responsible for monitoring all aspects of transplant-related drug therapy, including optimal dosing, interaction screening, adverse effect monitoring, and patient/family medication counseling.
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Transplant financial planner: Holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration with a special emphasis on accounting and ensures that all of your transplant insurance needs are met before, during, and after the transplant procedure
See a list of our team members »
Innovative approaches and techniques
The leading causes of intestinal failure, more commonly referred to as short bowel syndrome (SBS), in the pediatric population are necrotizing enterocolitis and gastroschisis. In some cases, our surgeons can use novel surgical techniques to increase length or volume of the patient's intestine in an effort to increase the quality and functionality of the patient's own bowels in an effort to improve the patient's nutrition, growth, development and motility.
One such technique is the serial transverse enteroplasty (STEP) procedure, which is used to increase bowel length to help absorption in the intestine so it can function more efficiently. The team also uses nutritional strategies to help patients maintain normal growth in spite of their intestinal failure. Often TPN is needed to help maintain growth, which can sometimes cause additional problems, including liver disease. If the medical, surgical, and nutritional strategies fail, the team pursues the possibility of isolated intestinal transplant before irreversible TPN-associated liver injury mandates inclusion of a liver transplant as well.
Support services
Children's Memorial is committed to offering our transplant patients and families comprehensive care and offers a wide variety of support services, including: