Pica secundaria al déficit de hierro después de un año del bypass gástrico: a propósito de un caso

Pica is an eating disorder characterized by the compulsive eating of substances that are inappropriate for consumption such as earth, chalk, plaster, paper, ice and other non-nutritious substances. Pagophagia (the consumption of ice) and geophagia (the consumption of soil compounds) are the most common forms of pica, which have often been associated with cases of iron deficiency and ferropenic anaemia. In this article, a description is given of the case of a woman submitted to a gastric bypass (GBP) with ferropenic anaemia who has an uncontrollable desire to eat ice (pagophagia) and an urge to smell and eat damp earth, which are secondary to the iron deficiency. After the anaemia is correctly treated (intravenous iron), the patient's eating disorders are resolved. This clinical case illustrates the importance of the early detection of pica in this type of patients to prevent irreversible dental and intestinal lesions.