title: Gastric trichobezoar causing intermittent small bowel obstruction: report of a case and review of the literature.
abstract: We report the unusual case of a 45-year-old woman who presented with multiple episodes of small bowel obstruction. Initial exploratory lap-roscopy did not reveal an etiology of the obstruction. Subsequent upper endoscopy identified a non-obstructing gastric trichobezoar which could not be removed endoscopically but was not thought to be responsible for the small bowel obstruction given its location. One week postoperatively, the patient experienced recurrence of small bowel obstruction. Repeat endoscopy disclosed that the trichobezoar was no longer located in the stomach and upon repeat laparotomy was extracted from the mid-jejunum. In the following 8 months, the patient had no further episodes of small bowel obstruction. Consequently, gastric bezoars should be included in the differential diagnosis of recurrent small bowel obstruction.
authors.affiliation: University of California San Diego, School of Medicine, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, San Diego, CA 92093, USA.
authors.forename: Nicole G
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Coufal
authors.forename: Akash P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Kansagra
authors.forename: Jay
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Doucet
authors.forename: Jeanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Raul
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Coimbra
authors.forename: Vishal
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bansal