A 14-year-old girl in India experienced abdominal pain and vomiting for a month, only to discover that her stomach contained a ‘hairball monster’ measuring 210 cm. The surgery successfully saved her life and broke the world record for the longest hairball removal in medical history.

According to a report by the India Today, the girl from a small village in the Agra region had shown signs of pica, a psychological disorder characterized by the compulsive eating of non-food items, since the sixth grade. Recently, her abdominal pain worsened, leading to frequent vomiting, which prompted her family to take her to the emergency department of Sawai Man Singh Hospital in Jaipur.

Doctors found that her stomach had swollen and become misshapen due to a large mass of foreign objects, extending into her small intestine. Dr. Jeevan Kankariya and his team performed an emergency surgery. During the procedure, they discovered the ‘hairball monster’ contained not just hair but also rubber bands, threads, wood splinters, and even small stones, totaling 210 cm in length, nearly spanning her entire digestive tract, a condition medically referred to as Rapunzel Syndrome.

The surgery lasted two hours, and the doctors were able to remove the hairball completely without it breaking apart or requiring a blood transfusion. This achievement has been submitted to the Guinness World Records for consideration as the ‘longest hairball removal surgery’ in history. The medical team reported that the girl is currently in stable condition and is expected to be discharged soon, although she will need follow-up treatment from a psychiatrist to prevent any recurrence of pica behavior.

Doctors advise parents to seek medical attention promptly if children are observed swallowing foreign objects or consuming hair to avoid gastrointestinal blockages or more severe complications.