Diseases That May Lead to Transplantation

Short Gut Syndrome

Short gut syndrome, also known as short bowel syndrome, is condition of nutritional malabsorption related to the surgical removal or disease of a large portion of the small intestine.

In healthy adults, the small intestine has an average length of approximately twenty feet. Short bowel syndrome usually appears when there is less than six feet of the small intestine left to absorb sufficient nutrients.

Reference and Publication Information

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The content on this page was originally created on May 5, 2006 by the United Network for Organ Sharing and last modified on May 11, 2006. The following sources were used as references:

National Library of Medicine, retrieved May 11, 2006.

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