2021 Volume 57 Issue 3 Pages 684-689
A 10-year-old girl was admitted to our institute owing to vomiting and abdominal pain. A mass was palpated in the upper abdomen. She had trichotillomania and trichophagia, and thus a trichobezoar was suspected. A CT scan revealed a huge mass with air bubbles, and an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy revealed a trichobezoar in the stomach. Because its removal was difficult endoscopically, an operation was performed. A small laparotomy was placed in the umbilicus, and a 3-cm incision was made in the stomach wall, and an ALEXIS® Wound Retractor XS was inserted into the stomach. A trichobezoar was removed under direct view. The weight of the trichobezoar was 290 g, which was removed in 110 minutes. No remnant was found in the stomach endoscopically by the glove method. By inserting a wound retractor into the stomach, we were able to remove the trichobezoar under direct view, with minimum umbilical incision. The intragastric endoscopic technique by the glove method is simple and useful to cover an approach by a small laparotomy.
