Rapunzel syndrome associated with bowel obstruction and upper GI bleeding: case report and literature review

Abstract

Rapunzel syndrome is an unusual and rare disease that occurs in young people, caused by intragastric accumulation of ingested hair (gastric trichobezoar) that keeps stuck in the gastric lumen and extends to the small intestine, associated with trichophagia. We report the case of a 25-year-old female patient with a history of trichophagia who is admitted in our institution with abdominal pain, distention, nausea, weight loss and concomitant upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Preoperative diagnosis was made by prior abdominal computed tomography scan with duodenal extension. Success surgical laparotomy and multimodal psychiatric follow up was made. This entity must be considered as a differential diagnosis with Acute Abdomen with Bowel obstruction and upper gastrointestinal bleeding.