Type:
Educational Exhibit
Keywords:
Emergency, Abdomen, Gastrointestinal tract, CT, Diagnostic procedure, Education, Obstruction / Occlusion
Authors:
L. Aguilar Sánchez1, M. D. M. García Gallardo1, E. Carmona González2; 1MÁLAGA/ES, 2Osuna/ES
DOI:
10.26044/ecr2019/C-1318
Background
A bezoar is a food conglomerate or foreign material ingested but not digested within the gastrointestinal tract.
Bezoars are usually formed in the stomach but sometimes the whole or a part of them may pass into the small bowel where they can occasionally cause obstruction in narrow areas such as the stomach,
the ileum (in its narrowest portion at 50-75 cm from the ileocecal valve or in the ileocecal valve) or in areas of surgical anastomosis.
PREDISPOSING FACTORS
- Previous gastric or intestinal surgery.
- Inadequate mastication.
- Diets rich in fiber.
- Systemic diseases
- Trichotillomania.
- Eating behavior disorders.
- Mental retardation or psychiatric illness.
TYPES OF BEZOARS ACCORDING TO THEIR CONTENT
•Phytobezoar (non-digestible organic materials as vegetable fibers). The most frequent in our area caused by ingestion of large amounts of persimmon.
•Trichobezoar (hair).
Typical in young patients (<25 years) predominantly women,
with psychiatric disorders (trichotillomania and trichophagia).
•Farmacobezoar (drugs).
•Lactobezoar (undigested milk and mucus). Classically described in association with pre-term,
low-birth-weight newborns fed with hyper-concentrated formula.
Phytobezoars (accounting for almost half of all bezoars) and trichobezoars are by far,
the most frequent forms.