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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bezoar | 1/2 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bezoar | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T16:24:07.305365+00:00 | kb-cron |
A bezoar stone (, BEE-zor) is a mass often found trapped in the gastrointestinal system, though it can occur in other locations. A pseudobezoar is an indigestible object introduced intentionally into the digestive system. There are several varieties of bezoar, some of which have inorganic constituents and others organic. The term has both modern (medical, scientific) and traditional usage.
== Types ==
=== By content === Food boluses (or boli; singular bolus) have the archaic and positive meaning of bezoar, and are composed of loose aggregates of food items such as seeds, fruit pith, or pits, as well as other types of items such as shellac, bubble gum, soil, and concretions of some medications. Lactobezoars are a specific type of food bezoar consisting of inspissated milk. It is most commonly seen in premature infants receiving formula foods. Pharmacobezoars (or medication bezoars) are mostly tablets or semiliquid masses of drugs, normally found following an overdose of sustained-release medications. Pseudobezoars are man-made ingestible, permeable, expandable implements that can swell in the stomach or in the intestines and stay inflated for a certain period of time, during which they perform particular functions, such as reducing gastric volume. Phytobezoars are composed of indigestible plant material (e.g., cellulose), and are frequently reported in patients with impaired digestion and decreased gastric motility. Diospyrobezoar is a type of phytobezoar formed from unripe persimmons. Coca-Cola has been used to treat them. Trichobezoar is a bezoar formed from hair – an extreme form of hairball. Humans who frequently consume hair sometimes require these to be removed. In cases of Rapunzel syndrome, surgery may be required. Ox bezoars (niu-huang (牛黃) or calculi bovis) are used in Chinese herbology to treat various diseases. They are gallstones or gallstone substitutes formed from ox or cattle bile. Some products allegedly remove toxins from the body.
=== By location === A bezoar in the esophagus is common in young children and in horses; in horses, it is known as choke. A bezoar in the large intestine is known as a fecalith. A bezoar in the trachea is called a tracheobezoar.
== Cause ==
Esophageal bezoars discovered in nasogastrically fed patients on mechanical ventilation and sedation, are reported to be due to the precipitation of certain food types rich in casein, which are precipitated with gastric acid reflux to form esophageal bezoars. Bezoars can also be caused by gastroparesis and other systemic illnesses causing poor gastric motility, such as cystic fibrosis, due to delayed or incomplete gastric emptying, which allows food to form a bolus. Bezoars can also be caused or contributed to by poor mastication The bezoar is typical composed of poorly digestible materials such as plant fibres, casein, medications or hair. As such, bezoars can be common in individuals with trichophagia or pica. Pharmacobezoars (bezoars caused by medication ingestion) form due to the ingestion and accumulation, in the stomach, of poorly digestible materials such as slow-release medication coatings or due to the pharmacological effects of ingested medications such as salicylates and often present with unique symptoms due to their contents A 2013 review of three databases identified 24 publications presenting 46 patients treated with Coca-Cola for phytobezoars. Clinicians administered the cola in doses of 500 ml (18 imp fl oz; 17 US fl oz) to up to 3,000 ml (110 imp fl oz; 100 US fl oz) over 24 hours, orally or by gastric lavage. A total of 91.3% of patients had complete resolution after treatment with Coca-Cola: 50% after a single treatment, with others requiring cola plus endoscopic removal. Doctors resorted to surgical removal in four cases. The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy notes that consumption of unripened persimmons has been identified as the main cause of epidemics of intestinal bezoars and that up to 90 percent of bezoars that occur from excessive consumption require surgery for removal.