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Rare disease
Lithobezoar – an unusual cause of dyspepsia
  1. Bashir Tijjani1,
  2. Ibrahim Masoodi1,
  3. Hamidullah Wani1,
  4. Adel Nazmi Alqutub1,
  5. M Khaldoun Marwa2
  1. 1Department of Gastroenterology, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
  2. 2Department of Psychiatry, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
  1. Correspondence to Dr Ibrahim Masoodi, ibrahimmasoodi{at}yahoo.co.in

Summary

Bezoar is the accumulation of exogenous undigested materials in the gastrointestinal tract. Various names have been used to describe bezoars based on the accumulated material. Commonly seen types are phytobezoar (composed of vegetable matter and seeds of fruits), tricobezoar (hair) lactobezoar (milk cuds). Lithobezoar (composed of stones and rocks) is uncommon and only limited reports are available in the English literature. The authors report a case of gastrointestinal lithobezoar presenting with ulcer-like abdominal pain. Some of the stones were removed endoscopically and some got expelled out after the use of promotility drugs. Invariably, there are predisposing factors for such behaviour. This case emphasises a meticulous psychiatric evaluation in a given patient, in order to prevent recurrence of symptoms.

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Footnotes

  • Competing interests None.

  • Patient consent Obtained.