Mumbai: In a life-saving surgery, doctors in Kyrgyzstan have removed a massive 4 kg hairball from a teenager's stomach.
The hairball was formed because the 18-year-old girl chewed the tips of her hair, and even ate hair and bits of wool she found on the carpet at home, doctors said.
Ayperi Alekseeva from Batken Province in Kyrgyzstan, had to be transported to a hospital in the capital city of Bishkek for treatment after she could not even drink water without being sick.
Medics treating Alekseeva found a massive hairball blocking her digestive system, 'metro.Co.Uk' reported.
The girl needed emergency surgery, or she would have died from extreme dehydration and malnourishment, doctors said.
"The parents brought her in after she started losing weight, and she couldn't eat anything. By the time we got her, she could not even drink water. We realised we needed to operate immediately," said Bahadir Bebezov, who performed the surgery.
"It was actually the only alternative, nothing else would solve the problem. In fact, her stomach was so badly swollen from hair and bits of wool from the carpet that it literally just oozed out soon as the wall of the stomach was cut," Bebezov said.
Doctors said Alekseeva was psychologically healthy and has promised never to chew her hair again.
