Infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis: a fresh approach to the diagnosis.

Infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis is a condition occurring in early infancy. The traditional approach to the diagnosis has been clinical, relying on the palpation of a 'tumour' caused by the muscular thickening of the pylorus. In doubtful cases a barium meal is diagnostic. Ultrasound, with the lack of hazards associated with radiation, provides an additional method of investigation which is accurate and will diagnose some cases in which no pyloric tumour is palpable. This will spare infants from a barium meal but there are still cases in which a barium meal will be necessary because a tumour cannot be palpated or demonstrated by ultrasound.