Shillong: On July 31, the doctors of Supercare Hospital, Shillong, conducted a rare but successful operation on an 18-year-old girl suffering from a condition called Trichobezoar.
“A Trichobezoar is a mass of undigested hair within the gastrointestinal tract,” informed Dr. R.S. Thangkhiew, leading Gastroenterologist and head of Supercare Hospital.
Trichobezoars, he said, are often associated with trichotillomania (hair pulling), and trichophagia (hair swallowing). Trichotillomania may be unconsciously or unintentionally done and is part of a psychiatric classification of impulse control disorders.
In up to 18 per cent of patients with trichotillomania, trichophagia occurs; one third of patients with trichophagia develop Trichobezoars. The site of hair pulling is most commonly from the scalp, but can occur from the eyelashes, eyebrows, and pubic area.
This patient had gone to several doctors complaining of abdominal pain, nausea, indigestion and general unease but her ailment could not be correctly diagnosed. Some doctors treated her for Liver abscess while others thought she might have a cancerous lump in her stomach and did a biopsy on her which turned out negative.
Finally the girl’s parents brought her to Supercare and it was while doing a CT scan that Dr. Sam Pamei, Radiologist at Supercare diagnosed it as Trichobezoar. This was further confirmed by an endoscopy.
The 1.6 kg mass of human hair was removed from the girl’s abdomen after a 45-minute surgery conducted by Dr. P. Ranee and M.D. Hek with Dr. Sangeeta Kar the anesthesiologist and Dr. R.S. Thangkhiew himself in attendance. The patient is recovering well but doctors feel she would need counseling to cure her of the psychological disorder.
Trichobezoars commonly occur in adolescent females, often with an underlying psychiatric or social problem. Clinical presentation of these patients is often confusing as they are not forthcoming with a history of trichophagia either due to embarrassment or the unintentional nature of the problem.
Although this is a rare condition, numerous cases have been reported as high mortality may follow complications associated with this condition.