Presentation
Abdominal pain and vomiting.
Patient Data
CASE OF THE MONTH: This case was selected as the Case of the Month for June 2023.
Mottled appearing mass-like luminal contents within the stomach and small bowel loops, with thickened enhancing walls of small bowel loops.
Post-operative gross specimen obtained from the patient's stomach and proximal small bowel loops.
Case Discussion
Rapunzel syndrome is the term for a trichobezoar (gastric 'hair ball') having a tail-like extension into the small bowel loops, causing gastric outlet obstruction.
On detailed clinical history, the patient was found to have a psychiatric illness (mixed anxiety-depressive disorder) and tends to eat inedible substances, including his body hairs.
Human hair is resistant to digestion and tends to stay in the stomach for a long duration and becomes a hair ball. It may extend into jejunal loops, as in our case, and results in intestinal obstruction.
Case courtesy: Dr. Ramita Dey, Consultant Radiologist, and Dr. Dipankar Chattopadhyay, Consultant Surgeon.
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