Specialty Services at the UPMC Center for Intestinal Health and Nutrition Support

People who come to the UPMC Center for Intestinal Health and Nutrition Support for treatment are often dealing with complex medical issues ranging from inflammatory gastrointestinal (GI) illness conditions to intestinal trauma to recovery from surgical procedures.

We find the best way to support your nutritional needs so you can get back on track toward intestinal health.

Extensive GI Expertise, Round-the-Clock

Disorders of the GI tract can be complex, requiring the collaboration of multiple specialists at a moment’s notice, such as:

• Gastroenterologists
• Surgeons
• Interventional radiologists
• Nutritionists

At UPMC, nutritional support is one of seven specialties of GI care that is staffed every day, 365 days a year. This enables you to get the complex care you need, when you need it.

Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN) Support and Patient Safety

To treat malnutrition, we provide TPN as well as placement of feeding tubes for adults and children.

Our focus on patient safety helps protect you from the complications that commonly accompany long-term IV nutritional support.

Our safety team includes:

• Dietitians
• Nurse practitioners
• Pharmacists
• Others who oversee your daily nutritional needs

Recovery Assistance After Bariatric Surgery

With the rise of obesity in America, bariatric surgeries designed to enable significant weight loss are becoming more common. Unfortunately, rapid loss of significant weight can lead to problems with malnutrition.

Our physicians are skilled in providing nutrition support to treat these complications of bariatric surgery.

Support of Small Bowel Transplant Recipients

When all other medical and surgical options for treatment have been exhausted, intestinal transplants can be a lifeline toward improving quality of life and proper nutrition for some patients.

At UPMC, we offer a world-renowned transplant program for patients who are no longer able to become nourished with the remaining bowel despite other corrective surgeries.

Our physicians will support these patients, as they journey from recovery to nutritional independence.

Leading-Edge Research

We continue to improve the current standards of treatment by actively undertaking clinical research studies that take a metric-based approach to understand the recurrence of inflammatory bowel disease and what causes the disease to progress.

Our physicians are involved in research that is changing the way centers approach the treatment of complex digestive disorders nationwide.

For instance, we have been pioneers in research to find the optimal approach to parenteral nutrition during the treatment of severe pancreatitis.

We have also conducted research on the best treatment for nutritional complications after bariatric surgery, and are currently involved in a longitudinal study demonstrating the connection between obesity and inflammatory bowel disease.