Rapunzel Syndrome (also known as Trichobezoar) is an extremely rare intestinal condition. It is named after the beautiful long-haired character Rapunzel in the fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm.

Its characteristics include:

• The body of a trichobezoar (hairball) located in the stomach, and its tail in the small bowel and/or in the right colon
• Small or large bowel obstruction
• Occurring in psychiatric patients
• Trichotillomania

At least fourteen cases have been reported in the pediatric age group.

Treatment

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As the human gastrointestinal tract is unable to digest human hairs, the trichobezoar usually has to be treated surgically.

External links

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• Sattar Memon, Parkash Mandhan, Javed Qureshi, Asif Shairani: Recurrent Rapunzel syndrome – a case report
• S. T. Hirugade, M. C. Talpallikar, A. V. Deshpande, J. S. Gavali, S. S. Borwankar: Rapunzel syndrome with a long tail
• N. D. Duncan, R. Aitken, S. Venugopal, W. West, R. Carpenter: The Rapunzel syndrome. Report of a case and review of the literature

Eponymous diseases

Rapunzelsyndrom