See The Giant Hairball Removed From A Woman's Stomach After Surgery (Viewers Discretion)

A woman who was hospitalised with swelling and vomiting astonished doctors when they discovered the cause was a giant hairball. The 38-year-old was admitted suffering from constipation and an enlarged abdomen.

She had lost more than a stone after having no appetite for the previous year, which doctors said left her looking tired with an unhealthy pale appearance.

Tests were inconclusive and surgeons were first to explore after her condition deteriorated.

When surgeons operated they discovered a hairball lodged in her stomach, roughly the size of a melon, with a 'tail' going into the first part of her intestine.

It measured six by four inches with another, smaller, one in her large intestine.

She was diagnosed with Rapunzel syndrome, a rare condition in which a hairball (called a trichobezar) is found in the stomach, with its tail in the colon.