Pica – a Case of Acuphagia or Hyalophagia?

Pica – a case of acuphagia or hyalophagia?

Filed under: Eating Disorders

Indian J Surg. 2008 Jun; 70(3): 144-6
Kariholu PL, Jakareddy R, Hemanthkumar M, Paramesh KN, Pavankumar NP

Pica is an eating disorder typically defined as the persistent eating of nonnutritive substances for a period of at least 1 month at an age in which this behavior is developmentally inappropriate. Acuphagia being consumption of sharp objects and Hyalophagia consumption of glass materials. Majority of the foreign bodies ingested into the gastrointestinal tract pass through the rectum asymptomatically, where as objects which are sharp, long, jagged may not be able to pass through. These types of objects may cause complications like impaction, leading to intestinal obstruction, ulceration, perforation and bleeding, thus need surgical exploration. In this case of young female with impacted bunch of bangles in the stomach and few in the small and large bowel, who was completely asymptomatic, needed gastrotomy with enterotomy for complete and successful retrieval of glass bangles.
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