For this important and unique issue of Gastroenterology Clinics, Consulting Editor Dr. Alan Buchman decided to serve as co-Guest Editor with Dr. David Hackam to provide a "bench to bedside? look at intestinal failure. Authors have contributed reviews on the status of the science behind artificial organs while emphasizing how to clinically prepare for intestinal failure. Articles are devoted to the following topics: Initial Evaluation and Care of the Patient with New Onset Intestinal Failure; Getting the Patient Ready for Home Parenteral Nutrition; Pediatric Intestinal Failure: Etiology and Management; Predictors of Intestinal Adaptation in Children; Management of the Patient with Chronic Intestinal Pseudo-obstruction and Intestinal Failure; Intestinal Growth and Adaptation Following Resection in Intestinal Failure; Fluid and Electrolyte Management and Prevention of Dehydration in Intestinal Failure; The Oley Foundation and Consumer Support Groups; Weaning from Parenteral Nutrition; Hepatobiliary Complications of Intestinal Failure; Non-Transplant Surgery in Intestinal Failure; Indications for Intestinal Transplantation in Intestinal Failure; Intestinal Regeneration and the Artificial Gut; Bench to Bedside Approaches for Engineered Intestine, Esophagus and Colon; and Fetal and Amniotic Stem Cells in Gut Engineering. Readers will come away with a true state-of-the-art look at how to manage intestinal failure.