Nonoperative Treatment of Gastric Bezoars Using Electrohydraulic Lithotripsy

Introduction

Bezoars are collections of indigestible material in the stomach, which can be classified into four broad categories: a) phytobezoars, consisting of fruit and vegetable fibers; b) trichobezoars, or hairballs, usually found in young female psychiatric patients; c) medication bezoars, consisting of tablets or semi-liquid masses of drugs, and d) miscellaneous materials such as sand, pica, or stones [[1]]. Over the past 35 years, the treatment of gastric bezoars has evolved from surgical exstirpation to nonsurgical interventions such as nasogastric suctioning, dietary changes or enzymatic dissolution [[2]]. Up to the present, electrohydraulic lithotripsy (EHL) has been a well established method for the treatment of urinary and hepatobiliary stones [[3] [4]]. This paper describes our attempt to extend the application of this modality to the treatment of gastric bezoars.

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