Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2015 Oct 1;23(1):50-53.
doi: 10.1016/j.jpge.2015.08.003. eCollection 2016 Jan-Feb.

Trichobezoar - A Rare Cause of Abdominal Mass and Gastric Outlet Obstruction

Ana Couceiro  1 , Carolina Viveiro  2 , Gustavo Capelão  1 , João Nobre  1 , Mónica Laureano  1 , Inês Gonçalves  1 , Paulo Clara  1 , Sandra Amado  1 , Teresa Rezende  2 , Ana Inácio  1 , Miguel Coelho Santos  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Trichobezoar - A Rare Cause of Abdominal Mass and Gastric Outlet Obstruction

Ana Couceiro et al. GE Port J Gastroenterol. .

Abstract
in English, Portuguese

The authors present the clinical case of a 14-year old girl with weight loss, anorexia, epigastric abdominal pain and postprandial vomiting with 5 months duration. There was a background of trichophagia for 2 years without evidence of alopecia or psychiatric history. The physical examination revealed an epigastric mass motionless, stony, with poorly defined limits, painful on palpation and about 7 cm diameter. Abdominal ultrasonography showed thickening of the gastric wall and antrum with gastric distension. The abdominal tomography scan and endoscopic examination revealed the presence of a bulky trichobezoar occupying almost the entire gastric lumen. It was decided to undergo gastrotomy and extraction of the bezoar. The postoperative period was uneventful.

Apresentamos o caso clínico de uma adolescente de 14 anos com emagrecimento, anorexia, epigastralgia e vómitos pós-prandiais com 5 meses de evolução. Apurou-se história de tricofagia com 2 anos de evolução mas sem áreas de alopécia ou antecedentes psiquiátricos. Apresentava massa epigástrica imóvel, pétrea, de limites mal definidos, dolorosa à palpação e com cerca de 7 cm de diâmetro. A ecografia abdominal mostrou espessamento da parede gástrica e do antro com distensão gástrica. Realizou tomografia abdominal e endoscopia digestiva alta que revelaram a presença de volumoso tricobezoar ocupando quase a totalidade do lúmen gástrico. Foi decidido realizar gastrotomia e extração do bezoar. O pós-operatório decorreu sem incidentes.

Keywords: Abdomen; Bezoars; Gastric Outlet Obstruction; Trichotillomania.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Abdominal radiograph. Marked gastric distension with gastric camera barely visible.
Figures 2, 3 and 4
Figures 2, 3 and 4
Abdominal tomography scan. Bulky bezoar difficult to characterize, occupying almost the entire gastric lumen and conditioning compression of neighboring structures.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Endoscopy. Large volume trichobezoar.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Gastrotomy and extraction of the trichobezoar 15-cm-long.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Singh S.K., Marupaka S.K. Duodenal date seed bezoar: a very unusual cause of partial gastric outlet obstruction. Australas Radiol. 2007;51:B126–B129. - PubMed
    1. Kaneko H., Tomomasa T., Kubota Y., Todokoro M., Kato M., Miyazawa R. Pharmacobezoar complicating treatment with sodium alginate. J Gastroenterol. 2004;39:69. - PubMed
    1. Coulter R., Antony M.T., Bhuta P., Memon M.A. Vol. 98. Southern Medical Association; 2005. pp. 1042–1044. (Large gastric trichobezoar in a normal healthy woman: case report and review of pertinent literature). - PubMed
    1. Kadian R.S., Rose J.F., Mann N.S. Gastric bezoars – spontaneous resolution. Am J Gastroenterol. 1978;70:79. - PubMed
    1. DeBakey M., Oshner A. Bezoars and concretions. Surgery. 1938;4:934.

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources