[Trichobezoar: presentation of three cases, clinical and psychological profile]

The description of Trichobezoar is very ancient; it is an occasional entity and it mainly affects young women with deep psychopathology.

Three cases of teenagers with gastric Trichobezoar have been studied; their clinical evolution and diagnostic methods were analyzed. Their psychological profile and familiar environment were particularly studied in our hospital by gastroenterology and psychology.

Clinical manifestations are unspecified, however long-evolution dyspepsia is predominant and the diagnosis can be suspected for the young age of the patients, most of them females, with certain atypical personality characteristics with a palpable abdominal mass in the epigastrium in advanced stages of the illness; the most useful diagnosis methods are simple abdominal x-rays, UGI x-rays and endoscopy. Psychological evaluation revealed a familiar dysfunction in all of them. We observed a profile of dysfunctional personality in different degrees, including psychomotor retardation in two of them. All of the cases were solved surgically without complications. The last two cases, as well as their parents have received family psychotherapy, and now the evolution is favorable. Control endoscopies were made 6 months after the surgical event and do not show any trace of hair in the stomach.