New mum in India needs surgery due eating her own hair

  • Suman Prasad, 25, had only just given birth when she reported stomach pains
  • Doctors in Indore in western India were surprised to find a giant hairball in her
  • The massive fur-ball was three pounds and caused by compulsive hair eating
  • Prasad is healing, say doctors, but the situation could have been far worse

Doctors in India have removed a hairball weighing three pounds from the stomach of a new mum suffering from Rapuzel Syndrome – an addiction to chewing her own hair.

Suman Prasad, 25, had just given birth to her first child, a son, but complained of severe abdominal pain days after delivery.

Her husband Ram Prasad took her to Maharaja Yashwantrao Hospital in Indore in western India where doctors first believed she had complications in her placenta after delivery.

A hairball - called a bezoar - extends from the stomach, with it's 'tail' in the small intestine, hence the name

Doctors were shocked to find a massive ‘mop’ of hairball in her bowel after CT Scan reports

However, they were shocked to find a massive ‘mop’ of hairball in her bowel in CT Scan reports.

What is Rapunzel Syndrome? 

Rapunzel syndrome is a rare condition where hairballs are found in the digestive tract after a person ingests their own hair. It is predominantly found in young people who have learning disabilities.

A hairball – called a bezoar – extends from the stomach, with it’s ‘tail’ in the small intestine, hence the name.

They can cause abdominal pain and nausea.

Sometimes people can present at healthcare facilities with a mass, but no symptoms, but it can progress to tearing and obstructing the stomach and bowel. 

Source: Clinical Medicine and Research journal 

 

A team of five doctors led by Dr Raj Kumar Mathur took out the hairball in an open surgery in a three-hour-long surgery on Tuesday.

Dr Mathur said: ‘We first thought her uterus was hurt in the instrumental removal of placenta. We were deciding on a surgery but were shocked to find a huge perforation in her bowel.

‘There was a massive cluster of hair lying in there. We conducted an open surgery and removed the 1.5 kilogram weighing entangled hair. 

‘It seems she had been chewing her own hair for a long time that eventually plummeted to form a cluster.’

Suman seems to have been suffering from Rapunzel Syndrome – a mental disorder where in the person has an extremely rare addiction of eating hair.

Named after the long-hair girl Rapunzel in fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm, the disorder is called Trichotillomania in medical terms.

Her condition is stated to be stable but doctors say she could have had serious health issues had the hairball not been removed.

 

A team of five doctors led by Dr Raj Kumar Mathur took out the hairball in an open surgery in a three-hour-long surgery on Tuesday

A team of five doctors led by Dr Raj Kumar Mathur took out the hairball in an open surgery in a three-hour-long surgery on Tuesday

Suman was suffering from Rapunzel Syndrome - a mental disorder where in the person has an extremely rare addiction of eating hair.

Suman was suffering from Rapunzel Syndrome – a mental disorder where in the person has an extremely rare addiction of eating hair.

'It seems she had been chewing her own hair for a long time that eventually plummeted to form a cluster'

‘It seems she had been chewing her own hair for a long time that eventually plummeted to form a cluster’

 

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