Two Cases of Successful Treatment with Atropine Sulfate in Persistent Vomiting beyond Pyloromyotomy of Infantile Hypertrophic Pyrolic Stenosis

ABSTRACT

Infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis (IHPS) is the most common condition requiring abdominal surgery in early infancy, and is caused by hypertrophied pyloric muscle. The development of successful surgical treatment in the early 1900s by Fredet and Ramstedt made it possible for infants worldwide to survive. Modern pediatric anesthetic techniques have virtually eliminated mortality from surgical management. Atropine sulfate is a cholinergic blocking agent with potent antimuscarinic activity that decreases peristaltic contractions by relaxing smooth muscles. We treated two cases of IHPS with incomplete pyloromyotomy in 3-month-old and 5-month-old male infants by administering atropine sulfate intravenously. They were free from vomiting after 5 days of intravenous atropine sulfate treatment. In these rare cases of persistent vomiting or refractory emesis following incomplete pyloromyotomy, there may be a role for atropine sulfate.