Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of 304 patients with infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis in Anhui Province of East China, 2012-2015.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the clinical and epidemiological features of patients with infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis (IHPS) so as to provide scientific evidence for diagnosis and prevention of IHPS.

METHODS: We performed a retrospective study of infants with IHPS diagnosed from 2012 to 2015 at Anhui Provincial Children's Hospital. Demographic characteristics and clinical data were collected.

RESULTS: Three hundred four patients (264 males and 40 females) were studied, of which 94.7% were full term and 75.7% were bottle fed or mixed fed; 16.8% of the patients had other congenital malformations in combination with IHPS. The proportion of IHPS cases with hyponatremia, hypokalemia, and hypochloremia was 18.4%, 12.5%, and 53.9%. A negative correlation was found between duration of disease and serum electrolytes. The mean pyloric muscle thickness, pyloric length, and diameter were 4.8 ± 0.7 mm, 19.4 ± 2.5 mm, and 13.3 ± 1.8 mm, respectively. There were significant differences in muscle thickness, pyloric length, and diameter between short (≤14 d) and long (>14 d) durations of disease. All patients underwent pyloromyotomy, and postoperative recovery was good.

CONCLUSIONS: IHPS occurs mainly in male, full-term, bottle-fed or mixed-fed infants. Patients with long duration of disease were more likely to develop electrolyte disorder and thicker muscle layer. More attention should be paid to early discovery and diagnosis, which will help to improve the curative effect and prognosis of IHPS.