Congenital hypertrophic pyloric stenosis. Surgical experience

Of 132 infants who underwent surgery for congenital hypertrophic pyloric stenosis during a 13-year period, 83% were males and 31% were firstborn males. Ninety-one percent of the patients presented with projctile vomiting after feeding, and an "olive" was palpated in 92%. Upper gastrointestinal studies were not obtained in 73%. Twenty patients had positive family histories. For the entire 13 years under review, the average total hospital was 6.14 days, and the average postoperative stay was 4.45 days. For the later period 1970 to 1974, the hospital stay was 5.2 and 3.7 days, respectively. Intravenous fluids were not used in 77% of the patients and were used but not needed from a surgical standpoint in 9%. No deaths resulted from the procedure for pyloric steonsis, but there were five complications. Only 13 patients had no vomiting after operaion, whereas 105 (79%) had modest regurgitation of mild vomiting. Specific preoperative, operative, and postoperative care is important in every case.