An Infant Who Developed Symptomatic Hypoglycemia During Propranolol Treatment for Hemangioma: Case Report and Precautions

Infantile hemangioma is common benign vascular tumor in early childhood. It typically appears as a small lesion, grows rapidly during the first nine months of life, and resolves over years. Approximately 20% of cases with infantile hemangioma require treatment due to bleeding, ulceration, and obstruction. Propranolol, a beta-blocker, is the first-choice treatment for infantile hemangioma. It must be started as soon as possible to prevent growth and must be used for at least one year to reduce the risk of recurrence of the lesion. Propranolol is an effective and safe treatment, however, it may cause severe side effects such as hypoglycemia and associated convulsion, bradycardia, hypotension, atrioventricular block, and bronchospasm. In this report, we present the clinical features of an 18-month-old female infant with severe hypoglycemia under propranolol therapy for hemangioma.