Surgery to remove half-kilo hairball from child's stomach

Doctors at the Quang Ngai Province Maternity and Pediatrics Hospital successfully performed surgery to remove a 0.5 kg hairball from the stomach of a 6-year-old patient.

On the morning of December 9, doctors from the Department of Surgery in collaboration with the Department of Anesthesia and Resuscitation Surgery ( Quang Ngai Province Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital) successfully performed surgery to remove a 0.5 kg hairball from the stomach of a 6-year-old patient.

Surgeons removed 0.5 kg of hair from the stomach of a 6-year-old patient in Quang Ngai.

PHOTO: KN

Previously, this child was hospitalized with a stomachache. His family noticed that he often ate hair... Through ultrasound and examination, doctors discovered that the child's stomach was full of hair-like foreign objects.

The patient was then indicated for gastrointestinal endoscopy under anesthesia, which determined that the hairball occupied the entire stomach.

Immediately after the consultation, the doctors performed surgery to open the stomach to remove the foreign object. As a result, they removed a very large, tightly twisted hairball, occupying the entire stomach of the child, weighing about 0.5 kg.

Speaking to Thanh Nien reporter, Dr. Pham Xuan Duy, Head of the Department of Surgery, Quang Ngai Province Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital, said that this case was determined to be related to Rapunzel Syndrome - a rare psychological disorder that causes patients to pull out and eat their hair. The syndrome is common in girls, especially those before entering first grade.

"Although the patient can still eat and drink normally, prolonged hair swallowing will lead to reflux, intestinal obstruction, stomach ulcers, and even endanger life," said Dr. Duy.

Previously, on March 12, doctors from the Department of Surgery, Quang Ngai Province Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital also performed surgery to remove a hairball weighing nearly 1 kg from the stomach of a 12-year-old girl in Quang Ngai.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/phau-thuat-lay-ra-bui-toc-nang-nua-ky-trong-da-day-benh-nhi-185251209112241065.htm