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Abstract
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We report on a growing number of bowel complications in children secondary to inadvertent ingestion of magnets obtained from toys.
We highlight two such reported cases over the past 18 months in the East Midlands region of the UK. Both children were developmentally normal with no documented history of magnet ingestion.
The first was an 18-month-old child who had presented with a 5-day history of upper abdominal pain. The abdomen was soft and non-tender, with the child passing normal bowel motions. Radiography showed ten adherent metallic spheres in the upper abdomen. Failure of these spheres to progress through the bowel necessitated a laparotomy. Ten adherent magnetic spheres were identified lying partly in the stomach and distal jejunum (figure A). Pressure necrosis of the intervening bowel between the adherent spheres had developed into a gastrojejunal fistula. Subsequent to a resection anastomosis, the child made a full recovery.
Keywords: Multiple magnet ingestion
Language: en |