Pham Xuan Duy, head of surgery at Quang Ngai Obstetrics and Paediatrics Hospital, said on April 24 that doctors had removed a hairball weighing about 0.3 kilogrammes from the child’s stomach. She is recovering well after surgery.
The hairball removed from the stomach of the seven-year-old girl (Photo: Kim Ny).
The girl, from Tra Giang commune, was admitted with gastrointestinal bleeding, pale skin and long lasting fatigue. During examination, doctors detected an unusual mass in her upper abdomen with clear boundaries and a firm texture.
Further tests revealed a large hairball that had nearly filled the entire stomach. After consultation, doctors decided to perform surgery to remove the foreign object.
She was diagnosed with Rapunzel syndrome, a rare psychological disorder in which sufferers pull out and swallow their own hair. The condition is more commonly seen in girls.
Doctors warned that prolonged hair eating can cause reflux, intestinal obstruction and stomach ulcers and may become life threatening if left untreated.
