Pediatric Intestinal Rehabilitation & Transplantation

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Your child receives well-rounded care and effective treatments from a team of dedicated GI experts. Call 310-825-0867(Link opens phone app) to connect with us.

The Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition at UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital has the largest established center for intestinal rehabilitation. The center has outcome data on over 1,000 patients since the program was established and has the largest national and international experience in adaptation of short bowel syndrome and chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction. Dr. Robert Venick was the site Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator in the Pediatric Intestinal Failure Consortium (PIFCon) which collected longitudinal data in children with intestinal failure. UCLA has a number of open-enrolling clinical research studies for this patient population including a multi-disciplinary, IRB-approved study for intestinal failure associated liver disease "Omegaven and Parenteral Nutrition Associated Cholestasis (PNAC)."

Transplantation of the intestine is a procedure performed regularly at a few specialized transplant centers in the U.S. and the world. As one of the world's leaders in solid organ transplantation, UCLA was one of the first centers to establish a program of intestinal transplantation. This program expanded from the already established, successful, and busy liver transplant program in an effort to meet the needs of a unique set of patients with short bowel syndrome, dependence on total parenteral nutrition (TPN), and advanced liver disease. Established in 1991, this program has grown steadily over the past decade under the guidance of Dr. Douglas G. Farmer, Director of the Intestinal Transplant Program.

The Dumont-UCLA Intestinal Transplant Program is one of the largest of its kind in the world, offering transplantation of the intestine alone, liver and intestine, and multivisceral combinations to appropriate adult and pediatric candidate needs.