8-Year-Old in Bengaluru Undergoes Surgery to Remove Cricket Ball-Sized Hairball from Stomach

Doctors diagnosed Aditi’s condition as gastritis and prescribed pills to address it. Aditi had a rare case of trichophagia, a compulsive habit of eating hair, also known as the Rapunzel syndrome.

Over the last two years, her parents were puzzled by her repeated bouts of poor appetite and frequent vomiting. They sought help from various doctors including paediatricians, general physicians, and ENT specialists in the hope of identifying the problem and finding a cure for her condition.

Despite the initial diagnosis of gastritis and the subsequent prescription of pills, doctors at Aster’s Children and Women Hospital in Bengaluru discovered that she had a trichobezoar – a mass of hair accumulated in her gastrointestinal tract. Dr. Manjiri Somashekhar, Lead and Senior Consultant in Paediatric Surgery at the hospital, described trichobezoar as an extremely rare condition, especially in a child as young as Aditi.

She noted that it is often associated with trichophagia, a psychological disorder where individuals eat hair. While this condition is commonly seen in adolescent girls, finding it in a much younger child highlights the uniqueness of Aditi’s case.

Due to the large and sticky nature of the hairball causing a complicated situation, an open stomach surgery, also known as laparotomy, had to be performed on Aditi. The surgery, lasting two and a half hours, prevented any leakage into the peritoneal cavity.

Following the successful surgery, she was placed on a special diet and continues to receive counseling and regular monitoring. Please note that the headline has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.