Thank you for listening to this podcast, where Frontline Gastroenterology Trainee Editor Dr Philip Smith talks to Dr Simon Gabe, Consultant Gastroenterologist and Intestinal Failure Specialist at St. Mark’s Hospital, London.

The podcast is an accompaniment to the Frontline Gastroenterology Twitter Debate (#FGDebate) held on Tuesday 14th April 2015, 8-9pm GMT, entitled 'Frontline Nutrition: The management of Intestinal Failure'.

Prior to the debate Dr Gabe said:

“Intestinal failure is increasingly recognised as a clinical condition and is divided into different subtypes. There are a number of different causes and although it is still rare for patients to require long-term parenteral nutrition, it is high cost, very demanding and requires an experienced MDT to manage such patients. There has been a desire to set up an intestinal failure network (HIFNET) in order to develop the service and set standards. Unfortunately, patients in different countries and different regions are managed in very different ways and some are not always offered this life-saving treatment.

This #FGDebate aims to cover the different types of intestinal failure and its causes as well as issues related to the management of intestinal failure. Feeding patients using unused segments of intestine often present practical difficulties. The placement and selection of jejunal feeding tubes are often not straightforward. Parenteral nutrition formulation offers many challenges including different lipid types. New developments are also afoot with small bowel lengthening surgery, the introduction of intestinal growth factors and intestinal transplantation. These exciting areas will be addressed and relevant questions will be answered."

The purpose of the podcast is to 'fill any gaps' the #FGDebate may have left. Dr Gabe has also provided the slides he used in #FGDebate to help those interested understand the issues associated with Intestinal Failure. We hope you enjoy this and that it is informative.

View the slides: http://goo.gl/QosfR5