Massive 9lbs hairball removed from teenager’s stomach
Doctors were desperate to diagnose a teenager who couldn’t even drink water without being violently sick, but what they discovered left them stunned.
Medics treating Ayperi Alekseeva found a massive hairball blocking her digestive system. The 18-year-old needed emergency surgery, or she would have died from extreme dehydration and malnourishment.
The hairball, which weighed 9lbs, was formed because the girl chewed the tips of her hair, and even ate hair and bits of wool she found on the carpet at home.
Ayperi, from Batken Province in Kyrgyzstan, had to be transported to a hospital in the capital city of Bishkek for treatment.
Doctors said that despite looking through 50 years of medical records, they have never been able to find a case involving a hairball this large.
Prof Bahadir Bebezov, who performed the life-saving surgery, added: ‘The parents brought her in after she started losing weight, and she couldn’t eat anything. By the time we got her, should could not even drink water. We realised we needed to operate immediately.
‘It was actually the only alternative, nothing else would solve the problem. In fact, her stomach was so badly swollen from hair and bits of wool from the carpet that it literally just oozed out soon as the wall of the stomach was cut.’
The professor of surgery insisted that Ayperi was psychologically healthy, despite her unfortunate habit.
His patient is now recovering in hospital, and will be discharged by the end of the week. She has promised never to chew the tips of her hair again. - Metro UK
Medics treating Ayperi Alekseeva found a massive hairball blocking her digestive system. The 18-year-old needed emergency surgery, or she would have died from extreme dehydration and malnourishment.
Ayperi, from Batken Province in Kyrgyzstan, had to be transported to a hospital in the capital city of Bishkek for treatment.
Doctors said that despite looking through 50 years of medical records, they have never been able to find a case involving a hairball this large.
Prof Bahadir Bebezov, who performed the life-saving surgery, added: ‘The parents brought her in after she started losing weight, and she couldn’t eat anything. By the time we got her, should could not even drink water. We realised we needed to operate immediately.
‘It was actually the only alternative, nothing else would solve the problem. In fact, her stomach was so badly swollen from hair and bits of wool from the carpet that it literally just oozed out soon as the wall of the stomach was cut.’
The professor of surgery insisted that Ayperi was psychologically healthy, despite her unfortunate habit.
His patient is now recovering in hospital, and will be discharged by the end of the week. She has promised never to chew the tips of her hair again. - Metro UK
