Four-Year-Old Girl Hospitalized with Stomach Lump Shocks Doctors
A four-year-old girl was hospitalized after doctors found a shocking cause for her stomach lump
Kathmandu, Nepal, Rapunzel Syndrome, Trichotillomania, Trichophagia, Hairball
Kathmandu: So, there’s this wild story about a four-year-old girl who ended up in the hospital with a lump in her stomach. It turns out, the doctors were totally shocked by what they found.
She had been in pain for about a week, and her tummy was really swollen. On top of that, she was throwing up and couldn’t eat much without feeling full. When the doctors took a look, they found a huge hairball inside her!
Her parents said she had been swallowing hair for a couple of weeks, which made her own hair start to thin out. This whole situation is known as Rapunzel syndrome, where someone eats hair and it forms a mass in their stomach. The parents mentioned there’s no history of eating disorders in the family, and everything was normal during the mom’s pregnancy.
The doctors found a firm lump that was about 4×4 cm, which is pretty big for a hairball. They had to do a surgery to open her stomach and get it out. This case was even published in a medical journal, which is kind of a big deal!
The doctors from the Institute of Medicine in Kathmandu described the hairball as a stomach-shaped mass with a tail. They managed to remove it successfully, which is a relief.
They also checked the little girl for some mental health issues related to hair, like Trichotillomania and Trichophagia, but it seems she hasn’t been keeping up with her therapy appointments.
It’s really sad because there was a similar case back in 2017 where a 16-year-old girl died after swallowing her hair, which caused a serious infection. It’s a reminder of how dangerous this can be.
Dr. Katharine Phillips, a psychiatry professor, says Rapunzel syndrome usually affects girls over 12. It’s estimated that 10 to 20 percent of people with this condition actually eat their hair, which can lead to serious health issues.
Trichotillomania is when someone feels the need to pull out their hair, often starting in childhood. Some people even pull hair from their eyebrows or eyelashes, which can lead to bald spots.
Healthline points out that if this continues into adulthood, it can cause permanent hair loss and scarring. Some people with this condition also end up eating their hair.
If you want to know more about Rapunzel syndrome, you can check out Healthline’s website.