A 1kg Hairball Found in Woman Complaining of Stomach Pain... The Cause Is This Disease

Cases of 'Rapunzel Syndrome' Involving Hair Ingestion

A shocking case has emerged where a clump of hair weighing 1 kg was removed from a woman’s body. The woman was revealed to be a patient with the so-called 'Rapunzel syndrome,' characterized by compulsively eating one’s own hair.

The British daily 'The Mirror' reported the story of a 24-year-old woman, Ms. A, living in Ecuador. Ms. A recently visited a hospital complaining of abdominal pain, frequent vomiting, and rapid weight loss. When medical staff examined her, they felt something bulging out from her abdomen.

Through an endoscopic examination, the medical team discovered a large clump of hair-like material inside the woman’s body. The clump removed from her abdomen was confirmed to be hair. It measured 40 cm in length and weighed a staggering 1 kg. Ms. A had compulsively eaten her own hair for the past two years, and the hair had accumulated strand by strand in her intestines, forming a round mass.

A clump of hair removed from inside the patient's body [Image source=The Mirror capture]

The medical staff explained, "The hair mass occupied the entire stomach cavity. It was palpable even from the outside." They added, "The hairball had reached the intestines, causing significant weight loss and making it impossible for her to eat."

After a 45-minute surgery to completely remove the hairball, Ms. A was diagnosed with 'trichophagia.' Trichophagia is a disorder involving the repetitive ingestion of hair and is also known as Rapunzel syndrome. Ms. A will undergo psychiatric treatment moving forward.

Rapunzel syndrome is a disorder characterized by the impulsive swallowing of hair. The photo is not related to any specific expression in the article. [Image source=Pixabay]

Rapunzel syndrome has been reported several times before. Patients with Rapunzel syndrome experience an impulsive urge to pull out their own hair. The swallowed hair accumulates and clumps together inside the intestines, and ingested food and mucus also get entangled in the mass, blocking the entrance to the stomach.

Rapunzel syndrome is said to be more likely to occur in females than males, and more common during adolescence than adulthood. In fact, in 2017, a case was reported in the UK where a girl suffering from Rapunzel syndrome died after her hair blocked her digestive tract.

If the size of the foreign object inside the body is too large, it must be removed surgically. Rapunzel syndrome itself requires psychiatric treatment, cognitive behavioral therapy, and other mental health interventions for effective treatment.