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©The Author(s) 2017. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Feb 16, 2017; 5(2): 50-55
Published online Feb 16, 2017. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v5.i2.50
Published online Feb 16, 2017. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v5.i2.50
Rapunzel syndrome is not just a mere surgical problem: A case report and review of current management
Obinna Obinwa, David Cooper, Faraz Khan, James M O’Riordan, Department of Surgery, the Adelaide and Meath Hospital, Dublin Incorporating the National Children’s Hospital, Tallaght, Dublin 24, Ireland
Author contributions: All authors contributed to the acquisition of data, writing, and revision of this manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: Not applicable.
Informed consent statement: Written informed consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this case report and accompanying images.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors have no conflicts of interests to declare.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Obinna Obinwa, MCh, MRCSI, Department of Surgery, the Adelaide and Meath Hospital, Dublin Incorporating the National Children’s Hospital, Tallaght, Dublin 24, Ireland. obinna.obinwa@amnch.ie
Telephone: +353-1-4142211 Fax: +353-1-4142212
Received: September 15, 2016
Peer-review started: September 19, 2016
First decision: November 14, 2016
Revised: December 7, 2016
Accepted: December 27, 2016
Article in press: December 28, 2016
Published online: February 16, 2017
Peer-review started: September 19, 2016
First decision: November 14, 2016
Revised: December 7, 2016
Accepted: December 27, 2016
Article in press: December 28, 2016
Published online: February 16, 2017
Core Tip
Core tip: There remain to be clear guidelines on the management of trichotillomania associated disorders. Here we report that Rapunzel syndrome requires a comprehensive and long-term psychiatric follow-up as it is not a primary surgical condition. A late relapse of the condition is possible and recognizing this as a clinical possibility can intensify efforts in relapse prevention during the follow-up period. This approach is important in eliminating the need for recurrent surgical interventions and associated morbidity. Multidisciplinary health care teams headed by a psychiatrist as well as family support play a key role in the prevention of recurrence.