The RESTORE study

After major bowel surgery, think of the body as constructing a detour, either a stoma or a fistula, to reroute essential gut contents known as chyme. If too much chyme is diverted, patients can become dehydrated and malnourished, and may need feeding directly through their veins. While this intravenous feeding can be lifesaving, it is not without drawbacks: it can be expensive, introduce its own complications, and even weaken the gut over time.

This is where Chyme Reinfusion Therapy (CRT) comes into play. It is an innovative technique that redirects chyme to underutilised parts of the gut. Our pilot study, harnessing the precision of stable isotope tracers, seeks to explain CRT's role in nutrient absorption and metabolism. Our research will help to pioneer new dietary strategies for patients and reduce prolonged reliance on intravenous feeding.

Adults younger than 70 years who are:

• diagnosed with Type 2 intestinal failure as defined by European Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (ESPEN) criteria
• suitable for CRT deemed by an experienced surgeon.

You will not be able to take part in the study if you are:

• having an anastomotic leak or bowel obstruction
• pregnant
• immunocompromised
• unable to understand risks and benefits.

Apart from overnight fasting prior to the two investigation days, no other lifestyle restrictions are required for the study.

You will receive:

• information about your body composition and dietary intake in recognition of your participation
• you will receive a $200 supermarket or petrol voucher at the end of the study.

Download the participant information sheet to get detailed information about what’s involved when you participate in the RESTORE study.

The information sheet will help you decide if you’d like to take part. It sets out why we are doing the study, what your participation would involve, what the benefits and risks to you might be, and what would happen after the study ends. We will go through this information with you and answer any questions you may have.

Before you decide you may want to talk about the study with other people, such as family, whānau, friends, or healthcare providers. Feel free to do this. Whether or not you take part is your choice.

If you decide to participate, you have the right to:

• withdraw from the study at any time
• decline to answer any specific questions
• ask any questions about the study at any time during participation
• provide information on the understanding that your name will not be used unless you give permission to the researcher
• be given access to a summary of the project findings when it is concluded.

Withdrawal from the study

Withdrawing from the study, should you choose to do so, will not result in any disadvantage to you.

If you wish to withdraw during the study, you can inform the study researchers. The study team will stop collecting data from you. Information and samples collected up until your withdrawal from the study will continue to be used and included in the study. This is to protect the quality of the study. Any collected tissue will be retained for up to ten years, then destroyed by incineration or returned to you on request.

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