A teenager in the UK who forcibly ate her own hair eventually developed a massive hairball in her stomach that tore a hole through her stomach wall, according to a new report.
The oval-shaped hairball was 48 centimeters long and completely filled her stomach, according to the report published in the magazine on February 9. BMJ case reports.
The 17-year-old was initially taken to hospital after fainting twice and her face and scalp falling during the fall.
Doctors wanted to rule out a head injury, but during an examination they also noticed a mass in the upper abdomen of the girl. The teenager said she had experienced intermittent abdominal pain over the past five months, which worsened during the two weeks before her hospital visit.
She also had a history of two mental health disorders: trichotillomania, or a strong urge to pull hair out; and the related condition trichophagia, or the compulsive eating of hair.
According to a computed tomography (CT) scan, according to the authors of the Queen’s Medical Center in Nottingham, England, a ‘large stretched stomach’ with a large mass inside and a tear in the abdominal wall was revealed.
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The teenager was diagnosed with Rapunzel syndrome, in which a hairball in the stomach – medically known as a trichobezoar – extends into the intestine, Live Science reported earlier.
She underwent surgery and doctors removed the hairball, which was so large that it formed a mold all over her stomach, the authors said.
Between 0.5% and 3% of people will experience trichotillomania at some point in their lives, according to the National Organization for Rare Disorders. Only about 10% to 30% of people with trichotillomania also have trichophagia, Live Science reported earlier. And among people with both conditions, only about 1% develop masses of hair in their digestive tract, according to a study published in the journal in 2019. Pancreas.
Eating hair can cause serious complications, including obstruction of the intestines and even death, according to the Mayo Clinic. In 2017, a 16-year-old girl in England died of Rapunzel syndrome after a hairball in her stomach caused a fatal infection.
In the present case, the teenager was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) after her operation and received her food through a feeding tube inserted into her small intestine while her stomach healed.
After evaluation by hospital psychiatrists, she had an “inconvenient post-operative course” and was discharged from the hospital seven days after her surgery, the authors wrote. One month later, she had no signs of complications, “progressed well with dietary advice” and gave them a psychological visit, they said.
Originally published on Live Science.