Treatment cont.

Surgical and other procedures
Feeding tube. Cystic fibrosis interferes with digestion, so you can't absorb nutrients from food very well. Your doctor may suggest using a feeding tube to deliver extra nutrition while you sleep. This tube may be threaded through your nose to your stomach, or surgically implanted.
Lung transplant. Your doctor may suggest lung transplantation if you have severe breathing problems, life-threatening pulmonary complications or increasing resistance to antibiotics used to treat lung infections. Because both lungs are affected by cystic fibrosis, both need to be replaced. Lung transplantation is a major operation and may lead to serious complications, especially post-surgical infections.
Bowel surgery. If you have developed a blockage in your bowel, you may need emergency surgery to remove it — especially if that part of your bowel has died. Intussusception, where a section of bowel has folded in on itself, also may require surgical repair.