Congenital hypertrophic pyloric stenosis

Introduction

Congenital hypertrophic Pyloric stenosis is a condition where the muscles are thickened between the stomach and intestines blocking the passage out of the stomach. The condition of the muscles (pylorus) thickening is called hypertrophy. This health condition occurs in infants from 0-6 months and is an uncommon condition. When this blockage happens between the intestine and the stomach the milk consumed does not enter the intestines and travels in reverse out the mouth and the child ends projectile vomiting every time the child consumes milk. This condition is treatable, let’s find out how in this article.

Risk Factors

This condition is uncommon among children has certain risk factors that cause this condition –

It is known that congenital hypertrophic pyloric stenosis is more common among male infants than female ones.
Incidences have shown that pyloric stenosis is also most common among white-race infants than any other race infants.
If the mother smokes during pregnancy
Family history- if many family members have had pyloric stenosis as an infant then there is a high chance of inheriting it
Bottle feeding – there were researches conducted to find out if bottle feeding in the first 6 months causes this condition, it was confirmed that it does, however, what was not clear is that if the formula milk is the cause or the mechanism of the bottle-feeding.
The use of few antibiotics can also cause Congenital hypertrophic pyloric stenosis

Symptoms

There are certain symptoms to look for in babies that help inform about pyloric stenosis-

If the baby vomits immediately after feeding on milk, this vomiting will be forceful and projectile. The vomiting can be slow at first and eventually grow and even contain blood.
The baby will be hungry constantly and want to feed milk even after vomiting
Before vomiting and after eating there might occur wavelike contraction on the upper abdomen region
With continuous vomiting, the baby will eventually over days become dehydrated and malnourished. And if the milk is not getting into the intestines then the baby will get constipated
Constant projectile vomiting also leads to weight loss

When these symptoms are noticed along with irritability and less urination then it is recommended to visit the doctor immediately for diagnosis and treatment.

Congenital hypertrophic pyloric stenosis can be diagnosed by performing abdominal ultrasonography, blood tests to check for dehydration and electrolyte imbalance. After the diagnosis and results from the test, the next step is the treatment. The treatment involves fluids and surgery. The infant will be given fluids intravenously to cope with dehydration and balance electrolytes. The surgery happens on the same as the diagnosis, and the procedure only the outside layer of the pylorus is cut through so that the inner lining bulges and the food passes through easily to the intestine.

Once the surgery is over, the infants can be fed within 12-24 hours. Some complications can occur after the surgery like bleeding and infection however these are not common and the surgeries are most of the time successful.