Open AccessBezoar: an uncommun cause of upper gastrointestinal bleeding
Author(s) -
Sofia Ventura,
Juliana Pinho,
Eugénia Cancela,
Américo Silva
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
revista española de enfermedades digestivas/revista española de enfermedades digestivas
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.331
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 2340-4167
pISSN - 1130-0108
DOI - 10.17235/reed.2021.8311/2021
Subject(s) - bezoar , medicine , vomiting , nausea , gastroparesis , swallowing , anorexia , phytobezoar , asymptomatic , gastroenterology , pica (typography) , abdominal pain , weight loss , dysphagia , gastric emptying , stomach , surgery , world wide web , computer science , obesity
Bezoars are aggregates of non-digestible material that accumulate in the gastrointestinal tract. They can be classified according to their composition, and phytobezoars (composed of vegetable or fruit fiber) is the most common type. They most often occur in patients with some risk factors, namely prior gastric surgery, neuropsychiatric, endocrine or other disorders that lead to abnormal gastric function, or poor gastric peristalsis. Bezoars may be asymptomatic but most commonly cause abdominal discomfort or pain, nausea, vomiting, fullness, difficulty in swallowing, or anorexia and weight loss. Upper GI endoscopy for both diagnostic and therapeutic purposes is key in the management of bezoars.