Case Study: Pyloric Stenosis or “Why Babies Get Ultrasounds”

We don’t like to expose infants to radiation, however sometimes we need to take a look inside. (Cue celebratory music…) This is why ultrasound is so fabulous! It’s real-time, harmless, noninvasive, short-lived and highly helpful.  

Today’s case study covers an instance of an 8-week-old male infant with pyloric stenosis. Classically this disorder occurs at 2-8 weeks of age in male infants. The disorder is most common in Caucasian males and can run in families. The infants present with forceful projectile vomiting that can get progressively worse. Poor weight gain often results. Such was the case with this little one.  

Today, we use ultrasound to image kids that are suspected of having pyloric stenosis (back in the old days we made the diagnosis with an upper GI exam done with fluoroscopy and X-rays – no longer necessary for the majority).  

With ultrasound we use a probe gently placed on the baby’s abdomen to image the pylorus, a muscle which sits at the connection between the stomach and the small intestine. Ultrasound allows us to see the overdeveloped muscle that causes blockage between the stomach and the small intestine, impeding the progress of milk out of the stomach – vomiting and weight loss follow!  

This condition is highly treatable after the diagnosis is made. Most often, simple surgery to open the muscle is used to put an infant back on track to weight gain and health. Here’s one more example of how ultrasound has impacted little lives. We love to image soundly!

Originally published 4/29/14 on diagnosticimagingcenterskc.com.