Intravenous fluids will be given to correct any abnormality and to treat or prevent dehydration prior to surgery. Comfort items like pacifiers may be used to help console your baby. The sugar in the IV fluid helps to decrease the hunger. The abnormally thickened pyloric muscle is cut and then spread apart to open up the passage into the small intestine. This is analogous to cutting a ring on a swollen finger so that the finger can be pulled back through the ring.
Nothing is removed.
Eventually the muscle thickening goes away by itself and the muscle heals together and works normally. The operation takes about 30 minutes but anesthesia takes time as well so the whole procedure is about an hour. Your baby will have a small incision on the abdomen, about one or two inches long, which is closed with internal dissolving stitches. These will fall off by themselves in about a week. There are no stitches to be removed.