Early experience with laparoscopic pyloromyotomy for infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis.

The authors report on 37 infants with infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis who underwent successful laparoscopic pyloromyotomy. The average age was 6 weeks and average weight was 4.5 kg. Three 4-mm ports were used in each procedure. The average operating time was 29 minutes (range, 7 to 60 minutes). Feeding was begun an average of 5.2 hours (range, 3 to 12 hours) postoperatively, and the average time of discharge was 28 hours (range, 16 to 52 hours) postoperatively. There were no technical failures. One patient had minor surgical emphysema, which resolved spontaneously. Laparoscopic pyloromyotomy can be safe and successful in infants with hypertrophic pyloric stenosis.