Pyloroplasty

Pyloroplasty is a surgery performed to widen the opening at the lower part of the stomach, known as the pylorus, when the pylorus thickens and food has difficulty passing through. The surgery widens the pyloric sphincter, the ring of smooth muscular fibers that surrounds the pylorus and regulates digestion and prevents reflux. Several named techniques exist: Heineke-Mikulicz pyloroplasty, the most commonly performed, consists of a transversely closed longitudinal incision across the pylorus; Jaboulay pyloroplasty is not a pylorus incision at all but a side-to-side gastroduodenostomy; and Finney pyloroplasty combines the Jaboulay technique with a pylorus incision.