• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.247-251
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• 2006

Bezoars are collections or concretions of indigestible foreign material that accumulate and coalesce in the gastrointestinal tract; they usually occur in patients who have undergone gastric surgery and have delayed gastric emptying. Treatment options include dissolution with enzymes, endoscopic fragmentation with removal or aspiration, and surgery. Recently, the efficacy of nasogastric lavage or endoscopic infusion of Coca-Cola for the dissolution of phytobezoar have been reported. We report a case of phytobezoar successfully treated by oral administration and endoscopic injection of Coca-Cola. A 62-year-old woman was referred to Yeungnam University Hospital for epigastric pain. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy revealed one very large, dark-greenish, solid bezoar in the stomach with gastric ulcer and duodenal bulb deformity. We performed endoscopic injection of Coca-Cola into the bezoar. The patient was instructed to drink four liters of Coca-Cola per day. At endoscopy two days later, the phytobezoar was easily broken into pieces. At endoscopy on the $11^{th}$ day of admission, the phytobezoar was decreased in size and removed by endoscopic fragmentation with a polypectomy snare. At follow up endoscopy after 13 days, the bezoar was completely dissolved.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.433-437
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• 2005

Bezoars are concretions commonly found in the stomach and small bowel, and four types of bezoars have been described based on their composition : trichobezoar, phytobezoar, lactorbezoar, and miscellaneous. Bezoars most often develop after gastric operations that alter the motility, emptying, and grinding of food in the stomach. Trichobezoars are most common in female children with normal gastrointestinal function and are usually associated with pica, mental retardation, and psychiatric disorders. Although uncommon, bezoars are a well-recognized cause of chronic abdominal complaints which, when undiagnosed, can result in serious complications including gastric ulceration, bleeding, perforation, intussusception and small bowel obstruction. Mortality rates of up to 30 percent have been reported in adults. Trichotillomania is behaviors surrounding hair-pulling, including stroking and playing with hair before pulling, or biting and swallowing the hair after it has been pulled(trichophagia). The most notorious of the medical sequelae of trichotillomania is the trichobezoar. We experienced a case of trichobezoar in an 11-year-old girl who frequently swallowed her hairs from age 4 years up to age 7 years, resulting in intermittent abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting.