Pathophysiology of Pyloric Stenosis in Infants

Running head: PATHOPHYSIOLOGY
PATHOPHYSIOLOGY
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1PATHOPHYSIOLOGY
Clinical testings
In reference to the case provided, the testing of the 2 months old baby will begin with
the physical examination. The physician tries to locate an olive-shaped lump in such cases
during examination of the baby’s abdomen. This is the enlarged pyloric muscle. The clinical
testing conducted for the child will include blood tests in order to check for occurrences of
dehydration or electrolyte imbalance. Ultrasound can be conducted for viewing the pylorus
and for confirming the diagnosis of pyloric stenosis, which may be the probable diagnosis. X-
ray can also be done of the baby’s digestive system, in case the ultrasound are not very clear
(Sivitz, Tejani and Cohen, 2013).
Diagnosis
The most probable diagnosis in such cases is the occurrence of pyloric stenosis. This
condition is detected by the affect is has on the gastrointestinal tract in the babies. This leads
to forceful vomiting and other conditions such as dehydration. The pylorus becomes narrower
in such conditions, which prevents the emptying of the food out in the stomach. Pyloric
stenosis is often known as infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis. This problems causes
gastric outlet obstruction that refers to blocks the stomach to the intestines (Eberly et al.,
2015).
Causes
Most of the times it is believed that the babies are not born with the condition of
pyloric stenosis. However they develop such condition gradually when there is thickening of
the pylorus after birth. When the pylorus is thick enough, the baby starts showing symptoms
since there is a problem in the emptying of the food into the stomach. Although the causes of
this thickening of the pylorus is not clear enough, it is believed that the causes presumably