Doctors remove 2kg of hair from girl’s stomach in Lucknow

Girl suffered from rare disease of Trichobezoar in which patients eat their hair

In a rare case, doctors removed a large lump of hair weighing around 2kg from the stomach of a 17-year-old girl at Balrampur Hospital in Lucknow.

Gastro-surgeon Dr SR Samadder said that the girl suffered from the rare disease of Trichobezoar in which the patients eat their own hair by plucking it. “10 days ago, this girl came to our hospital and complained of vomiting and abdominal pain. There was a large swelling on the upper portion of her abdomen. Her problem couldn’t be diagnosed through ultrasound, X-ray or CT scan, so we did an endoscopy and found a large trichobezoar in her stomach,” he stated.

Dr Samadder informed that he, along with a team of doctors, operated on the girl on Thursday and removed a lump of hair weighing around 2kg and measuring 20cm in length and 15cm in width from her stomach. The lump had taken the form of a ball of stone inside the girl’s stomach.

“Due to the lump, the food couldn’t stay in the stomach and neither could it pass to the small intestine. Therefore, the girl was getting weaker. She weighed only 32kg despite being 17 years old. Now that she is operated upon, she will recover soon and will be able to ingest food within four to five days,” he added.

Strange habit

On being asked about the reason for the girl’s strange habit of eating hair, Dr Samadder said that this disease is usually seen in patients suffering from depression. “It is a psychological problem. The person plucks out his hair and eats it hiding it from others. After the girl is in a stable condition, I will refer her to the psychiatric department of our hospital where she would get counselling,” he said.

“She will be given psychotherapy and social therapy. But her parents need to be vigilant as well,” he added.

The girl’s parents expressed gratitude towards God for saving their daughter and were relieved that she could be treated in time. “She complained of stomach ache for two months. We didn’t know of her habit of eating hair. She used to function normally at home,” said the girl’s father. “We are very happy that her problem was diagnosed in time,” said the girl’s mother.

After the girl is in a stable condition, I will refer her to the psychiatric department of our hospital where she would get counselling.”

Dr S R Samadder | Gastro-surgeon