The duodenal dimple: a specific fluoroscopic correlate to the duodenal web.

PURPOSE

We describe a new fluoroscopic sign to aid in the diagnosis of an obstructing duodenal web and its attachment site.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

During an upper GI series of a neonate, a nasogastric tube was passed into an obstructed duodenum and barium injected. The tube, pressing on an obstructing web, caused dimpling of the duodenal contour at the attachment point of the web to the duodenal wall. The same maneuver at surgery caused identical dimpling.

DISCUSSION

While the maneuver is described in surgical textbooks, there has been no radiologic correlate. The "duodenal dimple" is a new fluoroscopic sign of a duodenal web and its attachment point to the duodenal wall.