×
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Doctors remove 100 gm ball of hair from girl’s stomach 

The girl was known to have trichophagiais, compulsive eating of hair linked to trichotillomania (hair pulling) leading to intense stomach pain
Last Updated 29 March 2023, 11:01 IST

A team of doctors of Bai Jerbai Wadia Hospital For Children at Parel in Mumbai have successfully removed a 100 gm hairball from the stomach of a 10-year-old girl who used to pull her hair and eat it.

The girl was known to have trichophagiais, compulsive eating of hair linked to trichotillomania (hair pulling) leading to intense stomach pain. The patient is doing well after the two-hour surgery.

Dr Parag Karkera, Pediatric Surgeon, Bai Jerbai Wadia Hospital For Children said: “On clinical examination, we could feel a lump in the abdomen and admitted the patient. Patients with pain in the abdomen come routinely but there is no lump present. We conducted a CT scan which showed a trichobezoar which is a mass of hair in the stomach and some part of the mass was going into the duodenum (the first part of the small intestine). Hair does not dissolve, so it remains in the digestive system then it turns into a ball or mass, which keeps on growing. This is rarely seen among children."

“Even her parents were unaware of her eating hair,” he said, adding, “Not treating her at the right time could have led to complications such as intestinal obstruction or perforated intestines, meaning a hole in the wall of the stomach, and small intestine. The patient was doing well on follow-up.”

ADVERTISEMENT
(Published 29 March 2023, 11:01 IST)

Follow us on

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT