Pathophysiology, prevention, treatment, and outcomes of intestinal failure-associated liver disease.

Background: Intestinal failure-associated liver disease (IFALD) remains a serious problem in the treatment of infants with nutritional problems and short bowel syndrome.

Methods: A review of the recent literature from 2010 to 2016, concentrating on articles related to the pathophysiology of IFALD and to outcomes of novel nutritional and pharmacological therapies for neonatal cholestasis in the post-surgical neonate.

Results: The pathophysiology of IFALD relates to an increase sensitivity of the neonatal liver to cholestasis in the non-fed state; prolonged cholestasis almost inevitably results in liver damage which will progress from fibrosis to cirrhosis.