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World J Gastrointest Surg. Apr 27, 2011; 3(4): 54-55
Published online Apr 27, 2011. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v3.i4.54
Published online Apr 27, 2011. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v3.i4.54
Trichobezoar: A rare cause of bowel obstruction
Sébastien Gaujoux, Gaëlle Godiris-Petit, Nicolas Munoz-Bongrand, Pierre Cattan, Emile Sarfati, Department of Digestive Surgery, Hôpital Saint-Louis, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, and University Paris 7, 75010 Paris, France
Gaëlle Bach, Department of Radiology, Hôpital Saint-Louis, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, and University Paris 7, 75010 Paris, France
Joyce Au, Department of Surgery, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10065, United States
Author contributions: Munoz-Bongrand N, Cattan P and Sarfati E designed the research; Gaujoux S, Godiris-Petit G and Bach G performed the research; Gaujoux S and Au J wrote the paper; Cattan P and Sarfati E did the critical review.
Supported by A grant from the Assistance Publique des Hôpitaux de Paris (to Gaujoux S)
Correspondence to: Pierre Cattan, MD, PhD, Department of Digestive Surgery, Hôpital Saint-Louis, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, 1 avenue Claude Vellefaux, 75010, Paris, France. pierre.cattan@sls.aphp.fr
Telephone: +33-1-42499189 Fax: +33-1-42499757
Received: November 8, 2010
Revised: March 24, 2011
Accepted: March 30, 2011
Published online: April 27, 2011
Revised: March 24, 2011
Accepted: March 30, 2011
Published online: April 27, 2011
Abstract
A bezoar is an intraluminal mass formed by the accumulation of undigested material in the gastrointestinal tract. A trichobezoar is a bezoar made up of hair and is a rare cause of bowel obstruction of the proximal gastrointestinal tract. They are seen mostly in young women with trichotillomania and trichotillophagia and symptoms include epigastric pain, nausea, loss of appetite and bowel or gastric outlet obstruction. We herein describe a case of a trichobezoar that presented as a gastric outlet obstruction and was subsequently successfully removed via a laparotomy.
Keywords: Obstruction, Bezoar, Trichobezoar, Trichotillomania