Rapunzel Syndrome: Doctors remove half kg human hair, empty shampoo packets from girl's stomach
Coimbatore: City doctors here came across what might be a rare case of eating hair known as Rapunzel Syndrome or Trichophagia which can be can be associated with the hair-pulling disorder called Trichotillomania. The rare syndrome is named after the long-haired girl Rapunzel in the Brothers Grimm fairy tale. Doctors at VGM Hospital removed half kg of human hair along with shampoo packets from a young girls stomach
The girl, a 7th standard student, complained of a frequent stomach ache for the last few months and the parents, took her to the private VGM Hospital here.
The scan revealed a ball-like object in the stomach and doctors decided to remove it by endoscopy, hospital chairman V G Mohanprasad said.
As the attempt failed, it was decided to operate to remove the foreign particles, he said.
Accordingly, surgeon Gokul Kripashankar and team conducted the surgery and successfully removed the hair and the empty shampoo packets from her stomach, he said.
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