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Girl's Stomach Holds 1kg Hairball
3 Oct
Summary
- A 1-kg hairball was surgically removed from a nine-year-old girl's stomach.
- The girl suffered from Rapunzel syndrome, a rare condition causing intestinal obstruction.
- Doctors successfully removed the trichobezoar, and the girl has since recovered.
In a rare medical event, a nine-year-old girl in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, underwent surgery to remove a significant hairball weighing 1 kg from her stomach and small intestine. The condition, known as Rapunzel syndrome, led to severe intestinal obstruction, causing the girl persistent abdominal pain and vomiting.
Diagnostic scans revealed the extensive accumulation of hair. A specialized surgical team successfully extracted the trichobezoar, a mass formed by repeatedly swallowing hair. This condition, where the hairball extends from the stomach to the intestine, is extremely uncommon, with fewer than 100 cases reported globally.
The young patient recovered well following the complex operation. She resumed normal eating and was discharged from NIMS Medicity in Neyyattinkara, having successfully overcome this rare medical challenge.
