Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.

Pica is defined as the compulsive ingestion of particular food items or substances not fit as food or of no nutritional value. Organic causes of pica include iron deficiency, lead encephalopathy, pregnancy, and zinc deficiency.1 Patients with pica have been shown to have decreased iron and zinc absorption compared with control subjects; subsequent zinc supplementation results in pica elimination.2 The most common forms of pica include geophagia (ingestion of clay, sand, and dirt), pagophagia (ice), trichophagia (hair), and amylophagia (laundry starch).3 Pica occurs frequently in children with sickle cell disease, with one study reporting a prevalence of almost 34%.1 A potentially devastating complication of pica is the development of a gastric bezoar, with consequent gastrointestinal sequelae such as gastric ulceration, bleeding and perforation, intussusception, and small bowel obstruction.4 Pancreatitis has been reported rarely. Trichobezoar, which results from the ingestion of hair or carpet fibers, is the most common bezoar in the pediatric age group.5 Patients commonly present with recurrent abdominal pain and a palpable abdominal mass.