Case study: “What’s usual in the unusual patient?": “Munchausen syndrome” leading to numerous invasive medical interventions in an adolescent patient with known psychiatric background

Munchausen syndrome in adults have been intensively studied but only a few publications exist describing this syndrome in children. Research and clinical attention for factious disorders among children and adolescents focus almost solely on a “by proxy” presentation. In the case report before us, we present a teenager who had a known history of somatic symptom falsification and underwent unnecessary elaborate and invasive medical management. Preventive measures such as raising awareness, listing of medical observations suggesting suspicion and a national patients registry may prevent unnecessary medical procedures, and assist in identifying patients suffering from a mental disorder.