Acute Abdominal Pain with Obstructing Trichobezoar: A Pediatric Case of Rapunzel Syndrome Diagnosed in a Pediatric Emergency Department
Introduction: Acute abdominal pain is a prevalent complaint in pediatric emergency departments. Primary care physicians can find it challenging to treat such pain and, in particular, to determine whether it requires emergent surgical intervention. Acute appendicitis is the most common surgical cause...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2025-04-01
|
| Series: | Pediatric Reports |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2036-7503/17/3/53 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849426022009667584 |
|---|---|
| author | Sung-Ha Kim Jong-In Lee Soohyun Park So-Hyun Paek |
| author_facet | Sung-Ha Kim Jong-In Lee Soohyun Park So-Hyun Paek |
| author_sort | Sung-Ha Kim |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction: Acute abdominal pain is a prevalent complaint in pediatric emergency departments. Primary care physicians can find it challenging to treat such pain and, in particular, to determine whether it requires emergent surgical intervention. Acute appendicitis is the most common surgical cause of abdominal pain, but it is important to understand that other rare conditions can also be life-threatening. Case presentation: We report the case of a 6-year-old girl who presented to our pediatric emergency center with complaints of acute abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea. She had no notable medical history, including perinatal, surgical, or psychiatric disorders. After finding a bezoar-like structure through a combined enteritis CT scan, reassessing the child’s dietary concerns revealed that the child had experienced symptoms of trichophagia for approximately 3 to 4 years. Enterotomy and the removal of the bezoar were successfully performed. A pediatric psychiatric consultation was carried out to prevent further trichophagia-induced complications. Conclusions: Despite our patient’s relatively young age and the failure to obtain a history of trichophagia at the onset, we successfully diagnosed a rare condition called Rapunzel syndrome. Although several cases of this condition have been reported by pediatric surgeons, we emphasize the role of physicians in pediatric emergency departments when examining children with this rare syndrome. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-0f353052d3f54c8c9c1abbe2dec89f98 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2036-7503 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Pediatric Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-0f353052d3f54c8c9c1abbe2dec89f982025-08-20T03:29:35ZengMDPI AGPediatric Reports2036-75032025-04-011735310.3390/pediatric17030053Acute Abdominal Pain with Obstructing Trichobezoar: A Pediatric Case of Rapunzel Syndrome Diagnosed in a Pediatric Emergency DepartmentSung-Ha Kim0Jong-In Lee1Soohyun Park2So-Hyun Paek3Department of Emergency Medicine, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University School of Medicine, Seongnam 13497, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Pediatric Surgery, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University School of Medicine, Seongnam 13497, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Emergency Medicine, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University School of Medicine, Seongnam 13497, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Emergency Medicine, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University School of Medicine, Seongnam 13497, Republic of KoreaIntroduction: Acute abdominal pain is a prevalent complaint in pediatric emergency departments. Primary care physicians can find it challenging to treat such pain and, in particular, to determine whether it requires emergent surgical intervention. Acute appendicitis is the most common surgical cause of abdominal pain, but it is important to understand that other rare conditions can also be life-threatening. Case presentation: We report the case of a 6-year-old girl who presented to our pediatric emergency center with complaints of acute abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea. She had no notable medical history, including perinatal, surgical, or psychiatric disorders. After finding a bezoar-like structure through a combined enteritis CT scan, reassessing the child’s dietary concerns revealed that the child had experienced symptoms of trichophagia for approximately 3 to 4 years. Enterotomy and the removal of the bezoar were successfully performed. A pediatric psychiatric consultation was carried out to prevent further trichophagia-induced complications. Conclusions: Despite our patient’s relatively young age and the failure to obtain a history of trichophagia at the onset, we successfully diagnosed a rare condition called Rapunzel syndrome. Although several cases of this condition have been reported by pediatric surgeons, we emphasize the role of physicians in pediatric emergency departments when examining children with this rare syndrome.https://www.mdpi.com/2036-7503/17/3/53abdominal painRapunzel syndromesmall bowel obstructiontrichophagiatrichobezoar |
| spellingShingle | Sung-Ha Kim Jong-In Lee Soohyun Park So-Hyun Paek Acute Abdominal Pain with Obstructing Trichobezoar: A Pediatric Case of Rapunzel Syndrome Diagnosed in a Pediatric Emergency Department Pediatric Reports abdominal pain Rapunzel syndrome small bowel obstruction trichophagia trichobezoar |
| title | Acute Abdominal Pain with Obstructing Trichobezoar: A Pediatric Case of Rapunzel Syndrome Diagnosed in a Pediatric Emergency Department |
| title_full | Acute Abdominal Pain with Obstructing Trichobezoar: A Pediatric Case of Rapunzel Syndrome Diagnosed in a Pediatric Emergency Department |
| title_fullStr | Acute Abdominal Pain with Obstructing Trichobezoar: A Pediatric Case of Rapunzel Syndrome Diagnosed in a Pediatric Emergency Department |
| title_full_unstemmed | Acute Abdominal Pain with Obstructing Trichobezoar: A Pediatric Case of Rapunzel Syndrome Diagnosed in a Pediatric Emergency Department |
| title_short | Acute Abdominal Pain with Obstructing Trichobezoar: A Pediatric Case of Rapunzel Syndrome Diagnosed in a Pediatric Emergency Department |
| title_sort | acute abdominal pain with obstructing trichobezoar a pediatric case of rapunzel syndrome diagnosed in a pediatric emergency department |
| topic | abdominal pain Rapunzel syndrome small bowel obstruction trichophagia trichobezoar |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2036-7503/17/3/53 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT sunghakim acuteabdominalpainwithobstructingtrichobezoarapediatriccaseofrapunzelsyndromediagnosedinapediatricemergencydepartment AT jonginlee acuteabdominalpainwithobstructingtrichobezoarapediatriccaseofrapunzelsyndromediagnosedinapediatricemergencydepartment AT soohyunpark acuteabdominalpainwithobstructingtrichobezoarapediatriccaseofrapunzelsyndromediagnosedinapediatricemergencydepartment AT sohyunpaek acuteabdominalpainwithobstructingtrichobezoarapediatriccaseofrapunzelsyndromediagnosedinapediatricemergencydepartment |