Botox to Relax Baby Sphincter?!

[BlueBirdDiaries]

Baby, 10 months old. Chronic constipation. Tried everything. He’s under the care of the Gastro team at the hospital now. On 2 sachets of Movicol a day. Helps him poop 1-2 times a day. Without can go up to 7 days without a bowel movement. Waiting for contrast enema. If this shows abnormalities then we will have a biopsy to test for Hirschsprungs. If it’s normal then they want to use Botox injections to relax the sphincter and hopefully allow for easier bowl movements.

my question. Has anyone had any experience with this? I’m concerned this is a quick fix and there’s no information on how long a baby can stay on them for and whether he will ever learn to go independently of this treatment. Long term effects as also not known as the treatment is relatively new.

any input is very much appreciated!

@Sapphirejane Thanks for your input anyhow. Much appreciated

My kid had botox a few years back. It actually led to him being incontinent for a couple of weeks--that can happen for months apparently.

Has he had an xray to see how much stool is retained? I would be pushing hard for a HD biopsy. I was told by our gastro that short segment HD is usually found with up to date biopsying. She did a whole punch biopsy (think it was called that) and was adamant it was not what was causing his issues. Further investigation proved she was right.

No experience in this scenario but I know a few people with Sphincter of Oddi dysfunction (SOD) who have had Botox to relax that sphincter and it’s been very successful.

Good luck. My eldest (now an adult) suffered with terrible constipation as a baby. He ended up having a procedure at Alder hey hospital to stretch the bowel a little. It did seem to help.