The trichobezoar was squashed into shape by the stomach walls.
Fortunately, the patient had a successful operation to remove the trichobezoar and repair the damage done, and the patient was followed up with psychiatric care while they recovered. The physicians on her case ordered a contrast-enhanced CT scan which showed the enormous hairball that had ruptured the stomach and caused fluid to gather in the abdominal cavity.
The patient had presented to the emergency department having experience episodes of fainting and when examined was found to have a mass in her abdomen. As such, the hair just sits there and the more you eat the bigger the matted ball can become.Ī paper in BMJ Case Reports describes one such trichobezoar, which had grown to such a size it actually perforated the stomach of a 17-year-old. Hair is made of a densely packed protein called keratin which can’t be broken down in the same way that food is processed in our digestive system. If lots of hair makes it into our stomachs, something called a trichobezoar can form which is essentially a big furball made of human hair and gut mucus.
