Suffering from Rapunzel syndrome, Czech doctors successfully operate on a girl who swallowed her hair

The 11-year-old suffers from Rapunzel Syndrome, first reported in 1968, with only a few dozen documented cases worldwide to date.

It is named after a girl with very long hair from a Grimm Brothers tale, which inspired the 2010 Disney cartoon titled “Tangled” (“Raiponce” in France, “Tangled” in Quebec).

“The disease is linked to what is called trichotillomania and trichophagia, which involves pulling and swallowing one’s hair”said Matus Peteja, chief surgeon at the hospital in Opava, in the east of the Czech Republic.

He said that this syndrome mainly affects little girls and women under the age of 20.

The thick cylinder-shaped tuft which was 20 centimeters long and 8 centimeters in diameter was too large to be removed by mouth and doctors had to remove it via laparoscopy.

“If we hadn’t removed it, the girl would have been in pain and would have gradually lost weight. In the extreme case, the stomach wall could have been damaged or even perforated.”Mr. Peteja told AFP.

He added that the young girl, who is now doing well, would now undergo psychiatric and psychological treatment.