The vomiting infant: pyloric stenosis

Infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis is the commonest reason to perform an intra-abdominal operation on a young infant. It is thus an important condition for the trainee surgeon to understand. It illustrates many important lessons in diagnosis, preoperative preparation, operative skill and postoperative management and how to apply them to infants and babies to achieve the excellent outcome that is expected with minimal morbidity.For these reasons, and the application of basic sciences, it is a common topic for postgraduate examination.For the trainee in paediatric surgery it is a key operation to learn to perform well and is a stepping-stone to performing neonatal surgery.