Morning
A 5-year-old girl rolls in a stomachache
Go to the hospital for a check-up
It was a large clump of hair stuck in my stomach
Finally, he was diagnosed with "Rapunzel syndrome"
Special conditions are easy to be misdiagnosed
The child did not eat a drop of water all day
According to China News Service, recently, the pediatric surgery ward of Taizhou Hospital in Zhejiang Province received a 5-year-old girl who was treated for abdominal pain in the early morning.
The girl's mother introduced that the child's stomach pain had actually been for three days, and at the beginning it was a dull pain, and he could eat and play, so he didn't take it to heart, but he didn't expect the pain to gradually worsen. Once, the child did not eat a drop of water for a day, and went to the local hospital for abdominal CT, and the doctor only prescribed some anti-inflammatory drug infusion, and the stomach pain was not only not relieved, but worse, and the pain was so difficult to sleep, so he hurriedly sought medical attention.
The doctor examined the child carefully, and then checked the abdominal CT report of the local hospital, he asked the child's mother if she had eaten any special food recently, and the girl's mother said a clue - the child has a habit of eating his own hair since he was a child, is it related to this?
When the doctor heard this, he was shocked and suddenly enlightened, it turned out that when he read the CT scan, he found that there was a dense mass in the child's stomach, combined with the medical history provided by the mother, the doctor concluded that the child's long-term eating of hair caused a clump of hair in the stomach, which was also the cause of this abdominal pain.
A huge mass of hair in the stomach
It took more than 3 hours to get the hair removed
After the initial diagnosis is obtained, the doctor immediately arranges for the child to be hospitalized, contacts the gastroenterologist for gastroscopy, and if the diagnosis can be confirmed, you can try gastroscopic removal first to achieve a "non-invasive" effect. As a result, when the gastroscope entered, everyone was stunned, and the hair in the child's stomach wrapped around the food residue to form a huge mass that filled the entire stomach cavity.
The endoscopist reluctantly said that it was too difficult to endoscopy remove such a large mass, and it was easy to cause damage to the esophagus and throat, so surgery was recommended.
After the operation began, under laparoscopic surveillance, the gastric cavity was opened, the hair mass was exposed, and it was completely packed into the pick-up bag, the opening of the pick-up bag was pulled out by the small incision of the umbilicus, the hair mass was broken, and the hair mass was taken out from the bag mouth little by little, and then the open gastric cavity was tightly sutured, and the polluted abdominal cavity was flushed.
After nine days of conventional anti-infection and symptomatic treatment, the child's indicators returned to normal, there was no problem with eating and defecation, and the stomach did not hurt anymore, and he was successfully discharged from the hospital.
Rapunzel syndrome?!
It is usually associated with two psychological behaviors
However, the treatment of the child can only be said to be over, and the treatment of the root cause of the disease has just begun......
This syndrome is usually associated with two psychological behaviors: trichotillomania, in which people uncontrollably pluck out their hair or other body hair, and pica, in which people persistently eat non-food substances, such as hair, dirt, paper, etc. These behaviors may stem from nutritional deficiencies, psychological problems, or developmental behavioral problems.
Rapunzel syndrome is a rare and serious condition, and treatment of this syndrome requires the cooperation of a multidisciplinary team. Surgical removal of hairs from the stomach is only the first step in treatment, and long-term mental health support and treatment is essential to address the underlying psychological problem and prevent recurrence. Parents who find that their children have similar fetishes should seek medical attention in time.
There have been a number of confirmed cases across the country
There are these anomalies that should be taken seriously
Media reports show that there have been multiple cases of "Rapunzel syndrome" across the country.
In March 2022, Guangming.com reported that a 9-year-old girl in Jiangsu kept complaining of stomach aches, and there was more than 1 pound of hair hidden in her stomach.
Recently, Henan media reported that a 5-year-old girl was admitted to the hospital with stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, and unable to eat. After examination, the doctor found that there was a lump in the little girl's stomach, and on closer inspection, the lump was a "stone" formed by the combination of hair, food, and gastric juice.
According to Hubei Comprehensive News 360, an 8-year-old girl in Shaanxi Province had repeated abdominal pain for nearly 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.
Doctors said that "Rapunzel syndrome" is mainly formed by three factors: physiological, environmental and psychological.
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
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.
Doctor's Reminder:
Be sure to pay attention to your child's physical and mental health. If your child is found to have swallowed hair or has hair in the stool, you must go to the pediatric gastroenterology department and child psychiatric department as soon as possible!
Source: Beijing Daily, China News Service, "Ningju" official WeChat, Taizhou Traffic Broadcasting, Hangzhou News