A giant trichobezoar extracted by laparoscopic and endoscopic cooperative surgery (LECS)

A gastric bezoar is a mass that forms in the stomach. A giant gastric bezoar is particularly difficult to treat medically, and surgical therapy is selected. We describe our experience with a patient who had a giant gastric trichobezoar that was extracted by laparoscopic and endoscopic cooperative surgery (LECS) in accordance with the principles of LECS. The patient was a 32-year-old woman who presented at our hospital because of abdominal pain. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy confirmed the presence of a giant gastric trichobezoar extending from the gastric cardia to the gastric angle. Because endoscopic removal was considered difficult, we extracted the giant gastric trichobezoar by LECS. The concurrent use of endoscopy was considered to allow a gastric bezoar to be extracted more safely and reliably than was previously possible.