50 years old who consumed hair saved from fatality at Narayana Multispeciality Hospital, HSR Layout

The patient becomes the oldest in the world to have been successfully operated for trichobezoars in the intestine

BENGALURU, India, Dec. 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Across cultures tress, especially lustrous hair is considered as a benchmark of beauty. It is beheld as an asset. What if it the same asset becomes a reason for one's fatality. That was the case with Mrs. Geeta (Name changed) whom the doctors at Narayana Multispeciality Hospital, HSR Layout had saved recently. Mrs. Geeta (Name changed) was suffering from a rare condition called trichobezoars in the intestine. The doctors had saved the patient by performing Laparatomy with Opherectomy + Enteratomy + Small Bowel Decompression. The successful procedure makes Mrs. Geeta (Name changed) the oldest patient in the world to have been operated for trichobezoars in the intestine.

Hailing from Doddakannalli, 50 year old Mrs. Geeta (Name changed) was bought to Narayana Multispeciality Hospital, HSR Layout with severe stomach pain. The patient was also suffering from inability to pass stool. It was more than 10-15 days since the patient had passed stool. She has also been vomiting for more than 7-8 days. This had taken a toll on the patient's health. As she was not stable the emergency team sprung to action. The team put her on emergency medication to stabilize her condition. Parallely the doctors did a thorough investigation including a CT scan on the patient. The tests revealed that the patient was suffering from an acute intestinal obstruction coupled with ovarian cyst. She was also diagnosed with kidney failure and low of level sodium as well as chloride. As the patient was in a critical state the doctors decided to take a step by step approach. Firstly they stabilized her fluid especially the sodium and chlorine levels. They even corrected her kidney functioning. Once her condition improved they advised on performing a surgery to correct her acute intestinal obstruction. Through the surgery they not only removed the ovarian cyst, they also removed the cause of her current fatal condition. The intestinal obstruction in the patient was due to a trichobezoars in the intestine. Trichobezoar is a mass found trapped in the gastrointestinal system formed from the ingestion of hair. Trichobezoars are often associated with trichotillomania (compulsive hair-pulling). Trichobezoars are rare but can be fatal if undetected and that was the case with Mrs. Geeta Unlike other cases, wherein the hair used to be accumulated in the stomach area in Mrs. Geeta's case it had moved to the intestine causing obstruction. The surgery lasted for around 1.5 hours. The patient recovered within 05 days and was discharged on the 07th day of the hospitalisation.

Elaborating about the case Dr. Shashidhara, Narayana Multispeciality Hospital, HSR Layout, said, "The case is a very unique one. Though trichobezoars in the stomach are common, hair mass in the intestine is a very rare feature. In fact, if we look up the medical literature, there are only 22-30 cases reported of trichobezoars in the intestine and out of that all are amongst young children. There is no record of a trichobezoars reported and treated in an elderly person. Further, in this patient, the trichobezoars had caused severe damage to the functioning of other organs especially the kidney. However, with the help of our multidisciplinary team of doctors consisting of emergency medicine, radiologist, intensivist, nephrologist, medical gastroenterologist, surgical gastroenterologist, cardiologist, gynaecologist, psychologist & anaesthetist we were able to save her."

Sharing her joy of being saved, Mrs. Geeta (Name changed), said, "I never thought I would be alive to tell my tale to the world. I am extremely grateful to the team of doctors at Narayana Multispeciality Hospital, HSR Layout, for saving my life. During these tough times when patients are scared to move out even for their treatment, under Narayana's well managed ecosystem, today I am a fully recovered person. The hospital management is taking stringent steps to ensure everyone's safety and my best wishes are with the warriors of healthcare at Narayana."

The Laparatomy with Opherectomy + Enteratomy + Small Bowel Decompression was performed under the supervision of the team of doctors consists of Dr. Shashidhara G Matta, Senior consultant, Surgical Gastroenterology, Dr. Muralidhara K, Consultant Emergency Medicine, Dr. Harishkrishna Reddy, Sr. Consultant - Critical Care, Dr. Suma Raju, Consultant, Nephrology, Dr. Shivakumar Varakanahalli, Consultant, Medical Gastroenterology, Dr. Gundurao Harsh Joshi, Consultant, Cardiologist, Dr.Manjula H M, Consultant, Gynaecologist , Dr. Swapna, Consultant, Psychologist, Dr. James Sundeep Samuel, Sr. Consultant, Anaesthetist, Dr. Indumathi, Consultant Physiotherapy, Dr.Suhas B, Radiologist.

With this surgery Narayana Multispeciality Hospital, HSR Layout has once again proved its mettle as a leading multispecialty hospital with expertise to handle simple to complex cases such as this.

About Narayana Health Network, Bengaluru:

Narayana Health serves the people of Bangalore through its chain of 6 network hospitals in the city located at Bommasandra, HSR Layout, Indiranagar, Nrupthunga Road and Mattikere.

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