Constipation as a complication of pica

ABSTRACT

Pica is a common eating disorder in children and pregnant women involving repeated or chronic ingestion of non-nutritive substances. We report a case of a three-year-old boy who was admitted in a local hospital for chronic constipation. The child was a known case of constipation and was on laxatives. Our initial suspicion was of chronic constipation but on further investigation, the X-ray abdomen showed tiny rod shaped shiny substances