Use of a Loading Dose of Vitamin D for Treatment of Vitamin D Deficiency in Patients With Intestinal Failure

Grenade, Neil BSc
Kosar, Christina MN, RN
Steinberg, Karen MN, RN
Avitzur, Yaron MD
Wales, Paul W. MD
Courtney-Martin, Glenda PhD, RD

¹Research Institute, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
²Group for Improvement of Intestinal Function and Treatment, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
³Department of Pediatrics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
⁴Department of Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
⁵Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Glenda Courtney-Martin, PhD, RD, Department of Clinical Dietetics, The Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Avenue, Toronto, ON M5G 1X8, Canada. Email: [email protected]

This article originally appeared online on January 29, 2016.

Received January 8, 2015

Accepted November 14, 2015

Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition 41(3):p 512-516, March 2017. | DOI: 10.1177/0148607115625220

Vitamin D deficiency is common in patients with intestinal failure and short bowel syndrome who have been weaned of parenteral nutrition. Dietary supplementation with vitamin D is necessary to correct this deficiency. In certain cases, routine supplementation strategy may be ineffective. We report 3 cases of vitamin D deficiency in patients with intestinal failure who showed improvement in serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels after supplementation with a loading dose of 20,000–40,000 IU vitamin D provided weekly.