Surgeons remove 1-kg hair mass from young girl's stomach in Keralam

Doctors at a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram removed a one-kilogram mass of hair from the stomach and small intestine of a nine-year-old girl in a rare surgery.

What Happened

The patient was admitted to NIMS Medicity in Neyyattinkara suffering from ongoing stomach pain and vomiting. Hospital scans showed a severe blockage in her intestines, and an endoscopy confirmed a large accumulation of hair. A surgical team led by Dr Biju I G Nair, senior consultant in paediatric surgery, successfully removed the hairball. The girl has since recovered, started eating normally again, and gone home.

Context

Medical experts explain that a trichobezoar, or hairball, builds up when someone repeatedly pulls out and swallows their hair, which the human body cannot digest. Rapunzel syndrome is a very rare medical condition where this mass stretches from the stomach into the small intestine, and fewer than 100 cases have ever been recorded globally.