Overview
Your baby’s healthcare provider will ask you about your baby’s eating habits and perform a physical exam. Sometimes, providers can feel an olive-sized lump in your baby’s belly (abdomen). That’s the thickened pyloric muscle.
Your baby’s provider may recommend a blood test, as well. This test can tell if your baby is dehydrated or has an electrolyte imbalance from vomiting. Electrolytes are minerals that keep your baby’s body working the way it should.
What tests will be done to diagnose pyloric stenosis?
If your baby’s healthcare provider doesn’t feel a lump in their belly or wants to confirm the diagnosis, they may want to look for the pyloric stenosis on ultrasound. During an abdominal ultrasound:
- Your baby’s provider places a probe (tool) gently against their belly.
- The probe uses sound waves to create images.
- Their provider can often see the thickened pyloric muscle in the images.
Sometimes, even a physical exam and ultrasound don’t show any problems. If this happens, your baby’s provider may recommend an upper gastrointestinal (GI) series:
- Your baby drinks a special liquid.
- Their provider can see the liquid on an X-ray as it travels through their stomach toward their small intestine.
- Their provider can figure out if the liquid moves from their stomach through the pylorus. If it doesn’t, that indicates pyloric stenosis.
Symptoms
When to see a doctor
Complications
- High blood pressure.
- Diabetes.
- Heart failure.
- Some types of heart valve disease.
Prevention
- Control high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes.
- Don't smoke or use tobacco.
- Eat a diet that's low in salt and saturated fat.
- Exercise at least 30 minutes a day on most days of the week unless your health care team says not to.
- Get good sleep. Adults should aim for 7 to 9 hours daily.
- Maintain a healthy weight.
- Reduce and manage stress.
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