Rare rectal phytobezoar rooted in sunflower seed snack: case report
The case highlights the importance of considering bezoars even in young and otherwise-healthy patients, doctors say.
A young woman in the US was urged to swear off snacking on sunflowers seeds after it led to a painful and “exceedingly rare” case of rectal seed bezoar, doctors report.
The patient presented to their clinic with severe watery diarrhoea, anorectal pain and weight loss of around 9kg over four weeks.
Diarrhoea onset coincided with the initiation of stool softeners for constipation, but the patient denied any previous episodes and did not report fever, nausea, recent travel, sick contacts or anal intercourse.
On examination, she had an erythematous superficial perianal rash, along with dried sloughed-off external haemorrhoids, according to doctors from Saint Mary’s Hospital in Waterbury, Connecticut.
