Rapunzel syndrome: The Std IV student with a compulsive habit of eating hair, thread and paper has been advised to undergo psychiatric counselling
She was eating and yet starving. An eight-year-old girl's compulsive habit of eating her own hair and threads from clothes, which meant she had no appetite for food, landed her up in hospital.
Doctors at Sion hospital, where the Std IV student was admitted with stomach pain, removed the mass of thread and hair, which was two-and-a-half feet in length.
Head of the paediatric surgery department Dr Paras Kothari said, "Neeti Sakpal was brought to us in the second week of June. She had complaints of stomach pain and was not eating. X-ray showed the presence of a hazy mass inside the stomach."
According to the doctors, the girl's mother told them about her hair eating habit. "The mother noticed Neeti's unusual behaviour of eating her own hair eight months back. When she started complaining of stomach pain, the family got an endoscopy done. The doctors there advised them to go for tertiary care," said Kothari.
Doctors said that apart from eating her hair, Neeti, who resides with her parents in Nalasopara, also had the habit of tearing clothes and eating the threads. "This compulsive habit is called the Rapunzel syndrome, which leads to phyto-trichobezoars — a solid mass of indigestible material (hair, thread etc) that accumulates in the person's digestive tract. Bezoars are an uncommon but notable cause of small bowel obstruction," said Kothari.
In Neeti's case, the mass was located in the stomach with a tail extending into the small intestine. "The total mass covered 90% of the stomach space. This led to her not able to eat; it also trapped food particles. We had to operate on her and remove the mass," he added.
While Neeti is recuperating and will be discharged in the next few days, doctors have referred her for psychiatric counselling. "Her mother said she is not good in academics. She had seen sometime back a huge patch of hair missing from Neeti's head. Seeing her eat hair, she had shaved her head. Even Neeti's teacher had complained about how corners of her books were torn as she ate paper too. She is possibly suffering from some psychiatric problem and needs counselling," said Kothari.
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