Pyloric Stenosis in Adults

About

Pyloric stenosis is a rare disorder in adults that is caused due to abnormal thickening of pyloric sphincter muscle, thereby narrowing the gastric outlet.

Pyloric stenosis a rare digestive tract disorder in adults is caused due to the abnormal thickening of pyloric sphincter muscle. This is the muscle that surrounds the lower end of the stomach that leads to the intestines. Thus, in pyloric stenosis, the gastric outlet is narrowed and the passage of food into the intestines is obstructed.

Pyloric stenosis is more common in infants than in adults. This is usually a consequence of a congenital defect.

In most cases in adults, pyloric stenosis occurs as a result of chronic ulcers or fibrosis near the gastric outlet.(1Pyloric Stenosis

Go to source)

Advertisement

Symptoms occur due to inability of the food to pass easily from the stomach into the intestines. The patient experiences projectile vomiting of partially digested food after eating; the vomitus does not contain bile. In addition the patient also complains of frequent pain in the upper part of the abdomen, early satiety, nausea, loss of appetite and weight loss. At times, non-projectile vomiting and jaundice may occur. Some of the symptoms resemble those of stomach cancer, which has to be ruled out in these patients.(2Idiopathic Hypertrophic Pyloric Stenosis in an Adult, a Potential Mimic of Gastric Carcinoma

Go to source)

The condition is diagnosed using imaging studies and endoscopy. It is treated surgically.