Event

This activity will mark the 50th anniversary of the first publication describing the use of parenteral nutrition performed on an infant. In 1968, JAMA published an article describing the experience of Drs. Wilmore and Dudrick in supporting an infant girl born with congenital anomalies that did not allow oral feeding using a parenteral solution that included glucose, salts, amino acids, lipids, vitamins and minerals. In the five decades since its development, total parenteral nutrition (TPN) has transformed the care of children with congenital anomalies, gastrointestinal disease, trauma, cancer, and a wide range of critical illnesses.

Other medical advances in intestinal failure management have also resulted in substantially improved survival rates for these patients. Management of these patients through formal multidisciplinary programs greatly improve care by reducing the morbidity and mortality associated with this complex condition. Despite these advancements, patients have ongoing surgical, medical, and nutritional complications, and families and caretakers suffer significant physical, emotional, and fiscal distress.

This activity will review the evolution of pediatric nutritional support research and its translation to the bedside. Dr. Dudrick, the principal investigator for nutritional support research in the 1960’s and the senior author of the landmark paper, will describe his experiences with the use of TPN in infants. Various aspects of care for children with nutritional compromise and intestinal failure, including intestinal rehabilitation, intestinal transplantation, pharmacologic advances in parenteral nutrition, advances in feeding access, nutritional counseling, nursing care of children with intestinal compromise, and transition to oral feeding will be discussed. Lastly, a parent will describe her journey caring for her child with intestinal failure.