Doctors Identify Cause Of Woman’s Stomach Pains, Yank It Out Of Her Body (Photos)

Photos have emerged showing the disturbing aftermath of a procedure in which doctors had to remove a nearly 2-pound hairball from a woman’s stomach. (Warning: The photos below are graphic.)

According to the Daily Mail, a 20-year-old Indian woman was forced to have surgery to remove a massive hairball from her stomach. The woman suffers from a rare condition called Rapunzel syndrome, which is a result of ingesting one’s own hair.

The woman needed to have an urgent surgery after experiencing severe stomach pain and persistent vomiting.

The surgeon, Dr. Bharat Kamath, told The Sun, “On examination, a hard lump was felt in the upper abdomen of the patient. A CT scan showed a huge mass of hair, taking the shape of the stomach, extending through the duodenum into the upper small intestines.”

The patient reportedly weighed just 66 pounds before undergoing the operation, which took place at a hospital in Rajawadi, Mumbai.

The mass was approximately 10 inches long and 5 inches wide. The hair filled the woman’s stomach, with some of the mass snaking down into her intestines.

“This is the first time such a case has been handled in our hospital, though there have been isolated cases elsewhere,” Dr. Kamath said. “Small hairballs are very common; they do not require surgery and can be removed by an endoscopic procedure. However, when it becomes a huge case of mass taking the shape of the stomach, there remains little space for any equipment to go inside. Such patients can’t hold their food and vomit it all out which leads to anorexia; they are restless all the time, they don’t eat and that’s how their hemoglobin count drops.”

According to the Daily Mail, Rapunzel syndrome is predominately found in young people who are emotionally disturbed or suffer from learning disabilities.

The condition occurs when somebody ingests their own hair until a hairball develops, with some hair forming a “tail” in the small intestine. A hairball is made up of human hair and/or vegetable fibers that accumulate in the gastrointestinal tract. The mass increases in size because the fibers cannot be digested or absorbed.

According to Stuff, 85 to 95 percent of patients with Rapunzel syndrome experience abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting. Other possible symptoms include bloating, reduced appetite, constipation, diarrhea, and weight loss.

Nearly 70 percent of patients with Rapunzel syndrome are females under the age of 20. Doctors believe that the condition is more common in females because their hair typically tends to be longer. Long hairs are more likely to get trapped in the stomach’s mucus membranes.

Sources: Daily Mail, The Sun, Stuff / Featured Image: Pixabay / Embedded Images: SWNS via Daily Mail