Centennial of Pyloromyotomy

Shelf-life of scientific discoveries is usually less than few decades because science itself is an ever evolving discipline. Therefore, it is truly remarkable that pyloromyotomy described by Conrad Ramstedt (Fig. 1) is celebrating centennial this year. In October 1912, Ramstedt described the cure of hypertrophic pyloric stenosis (HPS) and that serendipitous discovery has stood the test of 100 years! (Fig. 2) It is also the most satisfying of all surgical procedures that offers consistent cure and it has saved millions of infants from premature death. Athena is pleased to join the fraternity of pediatric surgery in celebrating Ramstedt’s achievement [1]. Colossal success of a curative procedure usually obviates the need for further scientific research by solving the underlying problem. Athena is curious to know the impact of Ramstedt on the research and literature pertaining to HPS. She searched Pubmed titles using the key words “pyloromyotomy”, or “hypertrophic pyloric stenosis”. Contrary to the expectations, the number of research articles has progressively increased over the last century (Fig. 3). Some of the recent research papers conclude diametrically opposite of the views held in the past.