Giant hairball is removed from teenager’s stomach – after EATING her hair for 10 years
The giant hairball, weighing 3kg, was removed from the 14-year-old's stomach at a hospital in Mumbai
A GIANT hairball has been surgically removed from the stomach of a teenage girl.
The grim mass weighed a staggering 3kg when it was pulled out of the 14-year-old's intestines.
Based on its size, doctors at the King Edward Memorial Hospital in Mumbai believe the teenager could have been eating her hair for more than 10 years.
After complaining of pains in her abdomen, doctors carried out a CT scan and were shocked by the discovery.
Dr Jignesh Gandhi, who carried out the operation, said: “[At first] it appeared she had a tumour in her stomach. [But] further investigations showed that it was a huge hairball or a trichobezoar.”
To remove the massive tangle and ensure the least amount of scarring to the patient, doctors performed intricate keyhole surgery through the stomach.
Taking nearly 90 minutes and a team of four doctors, Dr Gandhi said, of the procedure: “It was quite difficult to remove the entire mass in one.
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"It weighed at least 3kg. We’ve had such cases in the past but the size of this hairball was certainly the biggest [I’ve seen].”
Compulsive eating of the hair, known as trichophagia, can be the result of childhood trauma, abuse or events.
Due to the body being unable to digest hair, if left untreated it can develop to form a trichobezoar or hairball.
Commonly referred to as ‘Rapunzel Syndrome,’ the hairball builds up in the stomach and its ‘tail’ starts to go down into the small bowel or in the right colon.
This can cause pain, discomfort and infection.
Although it sounds nothing like a fairy tale, this story does have a happy ending and the teenager is now on the road to recovery and being treated to get to the root of the problem.
