World's longest hairball removed from teen's stomach at SMS Hosp

JAIPUR: The SMS Hospital doctors surgically removed a 210-centimetre-long trichobezoar (a collection of hair) from the stomach of a 14-year-old girl, a resident of Barara village in Agra district of Uttar Pradesh, on Tuesday. It is believed to be the longest trichobezoar ever recorded in the world. The previous record stood at 180 cm.

The trichobezoar was entangled throughout the small intestine, which made the surgery a challenging task. Removing it in one piece was a major challenge, as breaking it could have necessitated multiple incisions in the intestines. In the operation, which lasted about two hours, and notably, no blood transfusion was required, the doctors managed to remove trichobezoar in one piece.

The girl was brought to the SMS hospital with complaint of abdominal pain and vomiting for over a month. Upon examination, doctors found a hard mass in her abdomen stretching from the stomach to the navel and the upper right part of the abdomen. A CECT (Contrast Enhanced CT scan) revealed a swollen stomach containing an unusual object.

The girl was diagnosed with a psychological condition known as Pica, where a person eats non-edible substances. "She began with ingesting chalk in her school since Class 6, influenced by her peers' behaviour, and later she started eating hair. As we operated upon her, we found wooden pieces, rubber bands, pieces of stones, threads and other non-food items closely packed in the bunch of hair forming a long trichobezoar," said Dr Jeevan Kankaria, of surgery department at SMS Hospital,

"When we measured, we found it 210 cm long, which is the world's longest trichobezoar ever removed from the stomach of a patient. We will apply for a Guinness World Record for it," said Kankaria, who has four Guinness World Records in surgeries.

The girl is now receiving treatment in the hospital. She will be discharged soon once the doctors ensure that her condition has improved. The girl is a Class 10 student and belongs to a farmer family.