Infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis (IHPS) is one of the most common gastrointestinal disorders in infancy, one that frequently necessitates abdominal surgery.

While in wealthier countries such operations are fairly routine and only rarely involve complications, in resource-poor settings the disorder can prove fatal for infants due to the lack of neonatal and pediatric surgeons in most peripheral hospitals. However, there is a way to get around this lack of access to pediatric surgery, which should in any case be undertaken only if there is an emergency situation.

This study describes a case of IHPS treated in a mid-sized hospital in Tanzania. Because it was impossible to transfer the young patient elsewhere for a surgical operation, hospital staff managed the case successfully with medicine (Atropine) alone. This could prove an effective solution in other low-resource settings in Africa.