Bezoars

If food lingers too long in the stomach, it can cause problems like bacterial overgrowth from the fermentation of food. Also, the food can harden into solid masses called bezoars that may cause nausea, vomiting, and obstruction in the stomach. Bezoars can be dangerous if they block the passage of food into the small intestine.

Gastroparesis can make diabetes worse by adding to the difficulty of controlling blood glucose. When food that has been delayed in the stomach finally enters the small intestine and is absorbed, blood glucose levels rise. Since Gastorparesis makes stomach emptying unpredictable, a person's blood glucose levels can be erratic and difficult to control. Bezoars are tightly packed collections of partially digested or undigested material stuck in the stomach or other parts of the digestive tract. Foreign bodies are small ingested objects that can also get stuck in the digestive tract and sometimes perforate (pierce) it.

*Masses of undigestible materials can get stuck in various parts of the digestive tract.
*Most bezoars and foreign bodies cause no symptoms.
*The diagnosis is based on x-rays and sometimes on a visual examination of the digestive tract by using a flexible viewing tube (endoscopy).
*Most bezoars and foreign bodies pass without treatment, but some need to be broken down manually or removed surgically.
The stomach is a common collection site for hardened, partially digested or undigested masses of food or other materials (bezoars) or for foreign objects (bodies). Reasons include the curved shape of the stomach and the narrow opening (pyloric sphincter) that the stomach's contents must pass through to enter the first segment of the small intestine (duodenum). Bezoars or foreign bodies larger than ¾ of an inch (about 2 centimeters) in diameter are rarely able to pass out of the stomach.

Bezoars may consist of partially digested hair, fiber from fruits or vegetables, even hardened blocks of drugs (such as antacids), which accumulates most often in the stomach but sometimes elsewhere in the digestive tract. These hairballs or foodballs cannot pass through narrow openings or spaces and thus get stuck in the digestive tract.

Treatment

Most bezoars and foreign bodies require no treatment. Even a small coin is likely to pass without problem. A doctor advises the person to check the stool to see when the object is excreted. Sometimes a doctor recommends that the person consume a liquid diet to help excrete the object.

To help break down a bezoars, a doctor may prescribe a regimen of cellulase or meat tenderizer, which is dissolved in a liquid and taken by mouth for several days. Sometimes doctors use forceps, a laser, or other instruments to break up bezoars so that they can pass through or be removed more easily.