Pyloric stenosis is a condition that can affect the gastrointestinal tract in babies. It can make a baby vomit forcefully and often, and can lead to other problems, such as dehydration. Pyloric stenosis needs medical care right away.

What happens in pyloric stenosis?

• Food and other stomach contents pass through the pylorus, the lower part of the stomach, to enter the small intestine. Pyloric stenosis is a narrowing of the pylorus. When a baby has pyloric stenosis, this narrowing of the pyloric channel prevents food from emptying out of the stomach.
• Pyloric stenosis (also called infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis) is a type of gastric outlet obstruction, which means a blockage from the stomach to the intestines.
• Pyloric stenosis affects approximately 3 out of 1,000 babies. It's more likely to affect firstborn male infants and also runs in families. So, if a parent had pyloric stenosis, then a baby has up to a 20% risk of developing it. Most infants who have it develop symptoms 3 to 5 weeks after birth.

Causes

It's thought that babies that develop pyloric stenosis are not born with it, but rather have progressive thickening of the pylorus after birth. A baby will start to show symptoms when the pylorus is so thick that the stomach can't empty properly. The cause of this thickening isn't clear. It might be a combination of several things. For example, the use of erythromycin (an antibiotic) in babies in the first 2 weeks of life or antibiotics are given to moms at the end of pregnancy or during breastfeeding can be associated with pyloric stenosis.

Signs & Symptoms

• Vomiting. At first, it may seem that the baby is just spitting up often, but then it tends to become projectile vomiting, in which the breast milk or formula is ejected forcefully from the mouth, in an arc, sometimes over a distance of several feet. Projectile vomiting usually takes place soon after the end of a feeding, although in some cases it can happen hours later.
• The vomited milk might smell curdled because it has mixed with stomach acid. The vomit will not contain bile, a greenish fluid from the liver that mixes with digested food after it leaves the stomach.
• Despite vomiting, a baby with pyloric stenosis is usually hungry again soon after vomiting and will want to eat. It's important to know that even with the vomiting, the baby might not seem to be in great pain or at first look very ill.
• Changes in stools. Babies with pyloric stenosis usually have fewer, smaller stools (poops) because little or no food is reaching the intestines. Constipation or poop with mucus also can happen.
• Failure to gain weight or weight loss. Most babies with pyloric stenosis will fail to gain weight or will lose weight. As the condition gets worse, they might become dehydrated.
• Dehydrated infants are less active than usual. They may develop a sunken "soft spot" on their heads and sunken eyes, and their skin may look wrinkled. Because the production of urine is lesser, they can go more than 4 to 6 hours between wet diapers.
• Waves of peristalsis. After feeding, increased stomach contractions may make noticeable ripples, which move from left to right over the baby's belly as the stomach tries to empty itself against the thickened pylorus.

Treatment

• When an infant is diagnosed with pyloric stenosis, either by ultrasound or the barium swallow test, the baby will be admitted to the hospital and prepared for surgery. Any dehydration or electrolyte problems in the blood will be corrected with intravenous (IV) fluids, usually within 24 hours.
• Doctors will perform a surgery called pyloromyotomy to relieve the blockage. Using a small incision (cut), the surgeon will examine the pylorus and separates and spreads the thick, tight muscles. This relaxes and opens those muscles.
• The surgery can also be done through laparoscopy. This technique uses a tiny scope placed through a small cut in the belly button, letting the doctor see the area of the pylorus. Using other small instruments placed in nearby incisions, the doctor can complete the surgery.
• Most babies return to normal feedings fairly quickly, usually 3 to 4 hours after the surgery. Because of swelling at the surgery site, a baby may still vomit small amounts for a day or so. If there are no complications, most babies who have had pyloromyotomy can return to a normal feeding schedule and go home within 24 to 48 hours of the surgery.
• If you're breastfeeding, you might worry about continuing while your baby is hospitalised. The hospital staff should be able to provide a breast pump and help you use it so that you can continue to express milk until your baby can feed regularly.
• After a successful pyloromyotomy, your baby won't need to follow any special feeding schedules. Your doctor will probably want to examine your child at a follow-up appointment to make sure the surgical site is healing properly and that your baby is feeding well and maintaining or gaining weight.
• Pyloric stenosis should not happen again after a pyloromyotomy. If your baby still has symptoms weeks after the surgery, there might be another medical problem, such as gastritis or GER, so let your doctor know right away.