Treatment of Rapunzel Syndrome – Gastrostomy or Gastrotomy?

The diagnosis and treatment of Rapunzel syndrome

Trichobezoars are hairballs or hair-like fibers formed by chewing and swallowing hair or any other indigestible materials. Trichobezoars usually form in the gastric body and are thus prepyloric. However, trichobezoars may rarely pass through the pylorus into the duodenum, jejunum, ileum, and even the colon, in a condition referred to as Rapunzel syndrome. Here, we present a case of a 13-year-ol...

Rapunzel syndrome.

A trichobezoar may be confined to the stomach or unusually it may extend from stomach to the small intestine or beyond when it is labelled as Rapunzel syndrome. Bezoars are concretions in the gastrointestinal tract that increase in size by continuous accumulation of non-absorbable food or fibre. Most bezoars in children are trichobezoars from swallowed hair. Repunzal syndrome is an uncommon con...

Rapunzel syndrome

Hair apparent: Rapunzel syndrome.

Emily (all names and identifiers have been changed to protect confidentiality) was a 7-year-old girl seen by her pediatrician for a routine annual examination. Although Emily had voiced no complaints, her mother had noted that she had appeared paler than usual. Upon physical examination, her pediatrician noted a nontender palpable mass in the child’s stomach, leading him to order an abdominal u...

A Case of Rapunzel Syndrome

Rapunzel syndrome refers to a very rare condition in which swallowed hair forms a gastric trichobezoar that has a long tail extending into the small bowel. We describe a case of Rapunzel syndrome in an 8-year-old girl who presented with abdominal mass, epigastric pain and vomiting. Abdominal computed tomography scan showed a markedly dilated stomach filled with coarse heterogeneous materials. U...