The hairball ‘forms a casting of the whole stomach’.
A girl in the UK, who is living with Rapunzel syndrome, has undergone stomach surgery to remove a 19-centimeter hairball.
The mental health condition causes someone to compulsively digest their own hair, leading to a bowel obstruction, or in the case of a teenager – a tear in her stomach, according to ScienceAlert.
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After the 17-year-old with two bruises with a bruised face, she was admitted to a hospital, where professionals ruled out head trauma due to her enlarged abdomen and her complaints about abdominal pain.
A CT scan found a large mass in her ‘coarsely stretched stomach’ and a tear in the lining.
Doctors also discovered that the girl had a history of trichotillomania, which causes one to pull out their own hair, and trichophagia, which eats compulsively. Both conditions are extremely rare according to the outlet. 0.5% and 3% of people experience trichotillomania and only 10% to 30% of these cases will develop trichophagia. And only 1% of people with both suffer from Rapunzel’s syndrome.
After doctors removed the hairball – which formed a mold from the entire stomach – they repaired the tear. She subsequently received psychiatric care and was sent home seven days later.
She is now apparently ‘making good progress with dietary advice’ and help from a therapist.
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