A bowel transplant, also known as an intestinal transplant or small bowel transplant, is a surgical procedure that replaces a diseased or shortened small intestine with a healthy small intestine from a donor. It is a specialized operation that can be life-saving for patients with irreversible intestinal failure that has become life-threatening. Bowel transplants can be done using either cadaveric (i.e., brain dead) or living donors. The procedure involves surgically removing the small intestine and replacing it with a healthy organ from a donor. The blood vessels of the patient and donor intestine are connected to establish a blood supply to the transplanted intestine, and the donor intestine is then linked with the patients gastrointestinal tract.

Bowel transplants are typically performed in people with severe gastrointestinal conditions that cannot be treated any other way, such as intestinal failure, short bowel syndrome, and cancer. The procedure can help people who may no longer be able to receive total parenteral nutrition (TPN) — liquid nutrition given intravenously. Bowel transplants can be performed alone, in combination with the liver, or multi-visceral (i.e., with one or more of the following: liver, pancreas, etc.) .

The survival rates for small bowel transplants are generally good, with a three-year survival rate for intestinal transplant patients of 70% or greater. Bowel transplants are a highly specialized procedure, and only a few specialized programs in the U.S. offer small bowel transplant. At UCLA Health, for example, they have performed more than 150 intestinal transplants and offer this advanced care as part of their comprehensive services.