2 months ago, 6-year-old girl Ming Ming (pseudonym)
Sudden abdominal pain.
Upon examination,
found a huge hair stone in her stomach,
Doctors diagnosed him with "Rapunzel syndrome".
According to the news of Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University on April 23, recently, Professor Deng Xiaogeng, director of the Department of Pediatric Surgery of Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, carried out a single-port laparoscopic gastrotomy to remove huge hair stones for Mingming, and only used a single-hole incision of 2.5 cm to remove about 18×9 cm of hair stones for Mingming.
The girl had abdominal pain and a huge hair mass appeared in her stomach
Examination confirms "Rapunzel syndrome"
2 months ago, Ming Ming had paroxysmal abdominal pain under the xiphoid process, and under gastroscopy, it was found that Ming Ming had a huge hair stone in his stomach. Despite 3 gastroscopies, the local hospital team was unable to remove the hair stones from Ming Ming's stomach.
CT scan reveals large hair stones in the stomach
Ming Ming's parents then took Ming Ming to Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University. After receiving an abdominal CT examination, the team of Professor Deng Xiaogeng, director of the Department of Pediatric Surgery of the hospital, decided to perform a single-port laparoscopic gastrectomy to remove giant hair stones. The surgery went smoothly and he recovered well after surgery without complications and was discharged from the hospital 1 week after the surgery.
It has also been diagnosed in children before
Previously, there were also cases of "Rapunzel syndrome" reported by the media.
In March this year, Taizhou Hospital in Zhejiang Province received a 5-year-old girl who was diagnosed with abdominal pain in the early morning. After seeking medical attention, after being questioned by the doctor, the girl's mother said a special clue - the child has a habit of eating his own hair since he was a child. The doctor concluded that the child's long-term eating of hair had caused clumps of hair in the stomach, which was also the cause of the abdominal pain.
At the end of 2023, in Meizhou, Guangdong, a 9-year-old girl Linlin (pseudonym) had a stomach ache for more than half a month, and after being sent to the hospital by her parents, the doctor took out a stone with a diameter of 8 cm from Linlin's stomach.
According to a report by Hubei Radio and Television on March 6, 2022, an 8-year-old girl in Shaanxi Province had repeated abdominal pain for one week, and her stomach was also very swollen and hard. When she went to the hospital for examination, the doctor found that she had a tennis-sized stone in her stomach, and on closer inspection, it turned out to be a large clump of hair.
"Rapunzel syndrome" is actually pica
It is usually associated with two psychological behaviors
Professor Deng Xiaogeng introduced that the gastrolithiasis suffered from Ming Ming refers to the foreign body formed by the human body swallowing human or animal hair in the stomach and coagulation, also known as "Rapunzel syndrome", the name comes from the big braid of Princess Rapunzel, the protagonist of "Princess Lettuce" in Grimm's fairy tales, so "Rapunzel syndrome" is also known as "Rapunzel syndrome", which is more common in pica.
Pica is a special preoccupation with indigestible foreign bodies and is more common in preschool children.
According to reports, "Rapunzel syndrome" is a rare and serious condition that highlights the important impact of mental health problems on physical health. This disease will seriously affect health, and the hair eaten will not be excreted with food, but will accumulate in the gastrointestinal tract, which may lead to gastrointestinal obstruction, nutrient malabsorption, and even gastrointestinal perforation, threatening life safety.
This syndrome is usually associated with two types of psychological behavior:
1. Trichotillomania
People uncontrollably pull out their own hair or other body hair.
2. Pica
Consistently eat non-food substances, such as hair, dirt, paper, etc.
In addition to surgical stone removal, psychotherapy is also a key part. Psychotherapy includes cognitive behavioral therapy, family therapy, etc., to help patients establish a correct eating concept and mentality, and change bad eating behaviors, otherwise it is easy to form grosis again.
Doctor's Reminder:
Parents should pay attention to their children's abnormalities
According to the doctor,
"Rapunzel syndrome" is mainly caused by:
Physiological, environmental, and psychological factors.
Physiological factors
Iron deficiency anemia is the main cause of pica in children, and some children with iron deficiency anemia may also experience a foreign body craving.
In addition, some children lack trace element zinc in their bodies, although the content of zinc in the human body is relatively small, it has a very important physiological role. Zinc is involved in the metabolic activities of many enzymes in the body, and zinc deficiency can cause abnormal physiological functions of many organs and tissues.
environmental factors
Some scholars believe that pica is caused by psychological factors, which is related to factors such as poor family relationships, parents' neglect to take care of their children, and separation of mother and baby. Studies have found that children who have broken families, often lack parental care and loving education, and lack of food and toys have a significantly higher proportion of pica, which is a sign of lack of supervision or emotional care.
Psychological factors
Another is that children have mental disorders, are prone to hallucinations, and unconsciously eat foreign bodies. Studies have also found that the satisfaction of some children's food needs is not measured by whether they are full, but by whether the movement needs of the mouth are met.
Professor Deng Xiaogeng reminded that if parents find that their children have pica, they should seek help from a doctor as soon as possible. If you find that your child has swallowed hair or has hair in the stool, you should go to the Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Child Psychiatry as soon as possible!
Many parents will correct their children by scolding when they find that their children have eaten foreign bodies, but this may cause their children's eating behavior to become more hidden. When a child learns to secretly eat a foreign object, this is likely to have more serious consequences.
For children with pica, parents should pay more attention to meet the emotional needs of their children, avoid correcting their children through violence, actively participate in psychological treatment, patiently educate and train, treat and guide with the help of doctors, and correct their children's bad behaviors in a timely manner, so as to truly and effectively prevent them.
Source: Guangzhou Daily