Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Jun 26, 2024; 12(18): 3603-3608
Published online Jun 26, 2024. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v12.i18.3603
Tennis ball cord combined with endoscopy for giant gastric phytobezoar: A case report
Juan Shu, Heng Zhang
Juan Shu, Heng Zhang, Department of Gastroenterology, The Central Hospital of Wuhan, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430014, Hubei Province, China
Author contributions: Shu J and Zhang H performed the literature search and contributed to manuscript drafting; Shu J collected all the data related to the case report; All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Informed consent statement: The patient provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Heng Zhang, MD, PhD, Chief Physician, Doctor, Department of Gastroenterology, The Central Hospital of Wuhan, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No. 26 Shengli Street, Jiangan District, Wuhan 430014, Hubei Province, China. 15802796240@163.com
Received: March 7, 2024
Revised: April 22, 2024
Accepted: May 15, 2024
Published online: June 26, 2024
Processing time: 102 Days and 23.6 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Due to the specificity of Chinese food types, gastric phytobezoars are relatively common in China. Most gastric phytobezoars can be removed by chemical enzyme lysis and endoscopic fragmentation, but the treatment for large phytobezoars is limited, and surgical procedures are often required for this difficult problem.

CASE SUMMARY

For giant gastric phytobezoars that cannot be dissolved and fragmented by conventional treatment, we have invented a new lithotripsy technique (tennis ball cord combined with endoscopy) for these phytobezoars. This non-interventional treatment was successful in a patient whose abdominal pain was immediately relieved, and the gastroscope-induced ulcer healed well 3 d after lithotripsy. The patient was followed-up for 8 wk postoperatively and showed no discomfort such as abdominal pain.

CONCLUSION

The combination of tennis ball cord and endoscopy for the treatment of giant gastric phytobezoars is feasible and showed high safety and effectiveness, and can be widely applied in hospitals of all sizes.

Keywords: Tennis ball cord, Endoscopy, Giant gastric phytobezoar, Case report

Core Tip: Due to the specificity of Chinese food types, gastric phytobezoars are relatively common in China. Most gastric phytobezoars can be removed by chemical enzyme lysis and endoscopic fragmentation, but the treatment for large phytobezoars is limited. We developed a new, safe, and inexpensive lithotripsy procedure for this condition using tennis ball cord combined with endoscopy. This new technique reduces the dependence on endoscopic instruments, may be more widely applied in hospitals of all sizes.