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Home / Lifestyle

Doctor finds 100 bubble tea pearls stuck in teenage girl's abdomen

NZ Herald
11 Jun, 2019 09:31 PMQuick Read

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A teenager sent to hospital after five days of constipation was found to have more than 100 undigested bubble tea pearls in her bowels. Photo / Getty Images.

A teenager sent to hospital after five days of constipation was found to have more than 100 undigested bubble tea pearls in her bowels. Photo / Getty Images.

A 14-year-old girl in China who suffered severe constipation for a week was reportedly full of bubble tea balls.

The teenager was admitted to hospital after complaining of stomach pains and that she hadn't had a bowel movement in over five days, AsiaOne news outlet reports.

A CT scan revealed about 100 "unusual spherical shadows" which doctors realised were undigested tapioca pearls from bubble tea.

Bubble tea is a popular Taiwanese tea-based drink, often topped with chewy tapioca balls. Photo / Getty Images.
Bubble tea is a popular Taiwanese tea-based drink, often topped with chewy tapioca balls. Photo / Getty Images.

Bubble tea, or boba, is a popular milk or fruit drink in Asia which is also sold in New Zealand.

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It is often served with chewy tapioca balls.

While the girl insisted she had only drunk one bubble tea a week ago, Doctor Zhang Louzhen, who treated the teenager said she must have consumed lots of the pearls to cause such a build up - and that she may be hiding her bubble tea habit from her parents.

He also warns that as the pearls are made of starch they are very difficult for the body to digest, and prescribed the girl laxatives to help remove the pearls from her body.

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