TRICHOBEZOAR: UNCOMMON PRESENTATION OF GASTRIC OUTLET OBSTRUCTION, A CASE REPORT

Aim: To report uncommon two cases with trichobezoar obstructing the gastric outlet within six months interval at our hospital. Methods: Two girls, 9 and 6-years old, presented with epigastric pain, nausea and non bilious vomiting about 6 and 4days before admission. There was a history of early satiety. By examining the abdomen a hard upper abdominal mass was palpated in each. Both mothers noticed irregularity in lengths of their daughter s hair but they don t know if they swallow their own hair during the previous 2-years. Ultrasound, gastroscopy, barium meal x-ray and CT scan proved the presence of a large foreign body in the stomach of each girl. Surgical laparotomy revealed large hairballs obstructing pyloric canal and extends through the duodenum into the proximal part of jejunum. Results: Through gastrostomy the hairballs extracted and the stomach closed in 2-layer sutures. Postoperative course was uneventful and no recurrence noted during the next 16 and 10 months of follow-up. Conclusion: This report demonstrates 2-uncommon (not rare) foreign bodies which impacted and obstructing the outlet of the stomach incidentally discovered within a short period interval without recurrence after surgery. We believe that the surgical trauma would be enough to cut the habit of hair biting and prevent recurrence of trichobezoars