Uttar Pradesh: Doctors perform rare surgery to remove 2.5 kg hair ball from minor girl's stomach

Dr. Prakash who led the surgery said that had a habit of pulling her hair and swallowing it for which a rare surgery was performed.

Bijnor: Doctors in Bijnor district of Uttar Pradesh have performed a rare surgery to remove over 2 kg hair bundle from the stomach of a 14-year-old girl living in Bijnor town, officials said on Saturday. The surgery was led by Pediatric surgeon Dr. Prakash. During the surgery the doctors removed a 2.5 kg hair bundle from the stomach of the girl from the main Bijnor town.

It is said that the girl child had a habit of pulling her hair and swallowing it while her parents were also unaware of this habit of the girl. Dr. Prakash, who treated the girl, said that the patient was brought to Bina Prakash Nursing Home after complaining of severe abdominal pain. During the subsequent clinical examination, it appeared that there was a lump in the girl's stomach, Dr Prakash said.

'He said that ball of hair was seen in the stomach during the CT scan of the patient. What concerned the doctors more is that part of the hair was projecting into the girl's small intestine due to which the girl often had pain in her stomach and she often used to vomit. Dr Prakash informed that the girl was not eating anything for some time now.

Dr. Prakash further said that since hair does not dissolve in the stomach, it starts accumulating in the digestive system. When the girl ate too much hair, the hair took the shape of a ball, he said. The medical team had to perform surgery for two hours to remove the hair lock from the girl's stomach. After the treatment, now the health of the girl is improving.

According to the doctors, if the girl's surgery was not done at the right time, there could have been a hole in her intestines and stomach wall.

Hair eating disorder: Doctors said that the girl who had two and a half kilos of hair removed from her stomach, was suffering from a disorder called Trichophagia. Patients suffering from the disorder involuntarily start swallowing hair by plucking the hair of their head. The habit of swallowing hair is called trichotillomania in medical jargon.

The bunch of hair is called Trichobezar.