Endoscopic treatment of a large gastric bezoar: A Case report

Abstract

Bezoars are concretions of undigested or partially digested foreign material in the gastrointestinal tract. They occur in patients with altered gastrointestinal motility or anatomy (previous gastricsurgery, diabetes mellitus, neurological disorders). They are rare, with an estimated %0.3 on upper endoscopy. The most common symptoms include abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, early satiety, anorexia, and weight loss. We present a patient who diagnosed with 8-9 cm phytobezoar, and treated by endoscopic method. An 87 years old woman presented to our emergency room with upper abdominal pain, nausea, and postprandial emesis for 3 days. Emergency esophagogastroduodenoscopy revealed prepyloric antrum, gastric phytobezoar (8-9 cm) and ulcers (10-12 mm). We used an endoscopic snare to cut the bezoar into several pieces. After endoscopy, all bezoars disappeared. There was no recurrence during 1-year follow-up. In conclusion, endoscopic treatment may be a safe and viable option for the extraction of gastric bezoars presenting with gastric outlet obstruction. This is the rare case that such a large phytobezoar (8×9 cm) has been fragmented with an ordinary polypectomy snare.