Use of breathing pacemakers to suppress intractable hiccups of up to thirteen years duration.

To suppress intractable neurologic hiccups that were unresponsive to pharmacologic management, seven patients have been implanted with modern breathing pacemakers of our design and manufacture. These devices control excursions of the diaphragm by electrical stimulation of the phrenic nerve. The first five patients have been able to control their hiccups by electrical stimulation after periods of up to 13 years. Two additional patients have been recently implanted and results are still pending.