Utility of Octreotide in Advancing Enteral Feeds in Children with Chronic Intestinal Pseudo-Obstruction.

OBJECTIVES

Chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction (CIPO) is a challenging disorder with high morbidity and mortality due to limited effective therapies that improve enteral tolerance. We aimed to present our experience using octreotide in children with CIPO and evaluate factors predicting therapy response.

METHODS

The study population included total parenteral nutrition (TPN)-dependent children with CIPO receiving octreotide at a tertiary care center. Octreotide response was defined as an enteral feeding increase of ≥10 cc/kg/day.

RESULTS

A total of 16 children were included (median age 5 years, range 1-18; 88 % female). We observed an overall feed increase in 11/16 (69 %) subjects and 7/16 (44 %) were considered responders: three tolerated >65 cc/kg/day (discontinued TPN), one tolerated >30 cc/kg/day (decreased TPN) and three patients tolerated 10-12 cc/kg/day. We found an association between therapeutic octreotide response and both the presence of octreotide-induced intestinal phase III of the migrating motor complex (MMC) as well as a higher median increase in intestinal motility index after octreotide challenge during the antroduodenal manometry (p = 0.03 and <0.01, respectively). We did not find an association between octreotide response and age, presence of ileostomy, and colonic manometry testing parameters. Side effects were observed in four patients: an allergic reaction and hyperglycemia requiring octreotide discontinuation, hypertension that responded to dose reduction, and cholecystitis (gallstones) with octreotide successfully restarted after cholecystectomy.

CONCLUSIONS

Octreotide is safe and effective in improving enteral tolerance in TPN-dependent children with CIPO and the antroduodenal manometry may be helpful in predicting octreotide response. Prospective studies are needed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of octreotide in children with CIPO.