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CASE: Nauseous and full
Ms. O, age 48, presents to the emergency department reporting a 3-day history of vomiting approximately 5 minutes after consuming solids or liquids. She’s had 10 vomiting episodes, which were associated with “fullness” and an “aching” sensation she rates as 6 on a 10-point scale pain scale that is diffuse over the upper epigastric area, with no palliative factors. Ms. O has not had a bowel movement for 3 days and her last menstrual period was 8 days ago. She is taking lorazepam, 1 mg/d. Her medical and psychiatric history includes anxiety, depression, personality disorder symptoms of affective dysregulation, obesity (270 lbs; medium height), and pica. She was 352 lbs when she underwent a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass 2 years ago. One year earlier, she had a laparoscopic gastric bezoar removal and an incisional hernia repair. Ms. O had no pica-related surgeries before undergoing gastric bypass surgery.
Ms. O denies shortness of breath, chest pain, allergies, smoking, or alcohol abuse, but reports uncontrollable cravings for paper products, specifically cardboard, which she describes as “just so delicious.” This craving led her to consume large amounts of cardboard and newspaper in the days before she began vomiting.
What may be causing Ms. O’s pica symptoms?
- iron deficiency anemia
- complications from gastric bypass surgery
- personality disorder
- generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)
The authors’ observations
DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria for pica include the persistent eating of non-nutritive substances for ≥1 month that is inappropriate for the level of a person’s development and not an acceptable part of one’s culture.1 If pica occurs with other mental disorders, it must be severe enough to indicate further clinical assessment to receive a separate diagnosis. Often associated with pregnancy, iron deficiency anemia, early development, and mental retardation, pica has been observed in post-gastric bypass surgery patients, all of whom presented with pagophagia (compulsive ice eating), and in one case was associated with a bezoar causing obstruction of the GI tract.1,2 With the dramatic increase in gastric bypass surgery and the required presurgical mental health evaluation, the consequences of failing to screen patients for pica behaviors can be devastating.
EVALUATION: Low iron
Ms. O’s vital signs on admission are stable, and physical exam is notable for mild abdominal distention with no guarding, tenderness, rigidity, or masses. No rebound tenderness is elicited. CT scan shows evidence of post-surgical changes involving the small bowel consistent with gastric bypass surgery and a hiatal hernia, but no obstruction, focal inflammation, free fluids, or gas. Lab values for amylase, lipase, urinalysis, coagulation studies, cardiac enzymes, and complete metabolic profile are within normal limits. Although not anemic, Ms. O is iron deficient, with ferritin, 10 ng/mL (normal 10 to 120 ng/mL); B12, 299 pg/mL (normal 100 to 700 pg/mL); and iron, 25 μg/dL (normal 50 to 170 μg/dL).
A foreign body is removed endoscopically and the specimen is sent to pathology. It is determined to be a gastric bezoar, yellowish-green in color, measuring 2.5 cm × 1 cm × 0.8 cm. After bezoar removal, Ms. O tolerates food and is discharged home on vitamin B12, 1,000 mcg/d for 2 weeks; folate, 1 mg/d for 1 month; calcium with vitamin D, 1 g/d; and esomeprazole, 40 mg/d for frequent heartburn. She is referred to psychiatry for behavioral modification therapy and medication management.
How would you treat Ms. O?
- start a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI)
- prescribe an atypical antipsychotic
- continue lorazepam
- begin behavioral therapy
HISTORY: Pica during pregnancy
During psychiatric workup, Ms. O admits to having pica urges most of her life, but experienced an uncontrollable exacerbation after gastric bypass surgery. This led to intense, chaotic periods of pica, resulting in a previous bezoar removal. She is particularly attracted to cardboard and newspaper cartoons, but notes she also has felt the urge to eat charcoal, moist soil, clay, chalk, pencils, and new shoes, which she chews on. In the past, her extreme anxiety and preoccupation with these urges had lead to diagnoses of personality disorder not otherwise specified, GAD, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Her first experience with pica was during her first pregnancy at age 15, when she had an impulse to eat soil. The urges briefly stopped until she became pregnant again. During each of her 5 pregnancies her pica symptoms returned. At one point during her last pregnancy she reports having felt out of control, eating 2 to 3 pencils with the eraser per day, after which she would feel intense relaxation. Her mother also exhibited symptoms of pica toward charcoal and soil. Ms. O had been taking unknown dosages of lorazepam for anxiety and fluoxetine for depression, both of which she stopped because she feared side effects during her last pregnancy. However, she never experienced any side effects.