Case Report introductionAggregates of undigested or partially digested materials that could be found within the body or more specifically within the gastrointestinal (GI) tract are known as "Bezoars." [1,2] Although more commonly found in the stomach, they can also be found in the small and large intestines or even less frequently in the rectum. [3] Bezoars are classified according to their composition into five types. In decreasing order of frequency, they are phytobezoars (composed of undigested vegetable fibers), [4] diospyrobezoars (a type of phytobezoars comprised persimmon fruit), [4] trichobezoars (associated with trichotillomania known as the Rapunzel Syndrome), [4,5] pharmacobezoars (also known as drug bezoars and made up of accumulated undigested medications; [4] ), and lactobezoars (made up of milk proteins and mucus. [4] Foreign-body bezoars could be anything from plastic to foams, metals, or even worms such as ascaris. [4] Only a few papers were published in the literature regarding foreign-body bezoars in large intestines that were linked to psychiatric patients, even less so, case reports of bezoars being administrated orally as well as rectally.Acute abdomen, especially in psychiatric patients, can result from bizarre causes such as bezoars. This unique case report intends to shed light on a rare type of bezoars with an unusual presentation. A 30-year-old schizophrenic male, who is in denial of his mental condition and having mystical believes instead, presented with acute abdomen. Workups revealed vast amounts of foreign bodies within dilated intestines. Exploratory laparotomy was done extracting about 2 kg of nylon-wrapped foreign bodies which caused distention with multiple perforations to both cecum and sigmoid colon. Interestingly, the foreign materials were either ingested or introduced rectally. Although bezoars are not a common finding nowadays. They should still be considered as a potential cause of acute abdomen in psychiatric and some nonpsychiatric patients alike, especially in countries, where mental illness can easily be disguised as mystical beliefs.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.