TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2013//
TI  - Prevalence, clinical features and management of pediatric magnetic foreign body ingestions
JO  - Journal of emergency medicine
A1  - Tavarez, Melissa M.
A1  - Saladino, Richard A.
A1  - Gaines, Barbara A.
A1  - Manole, Mioara D.
SP  - 261
EP  - 268
VL  - 44
IS  - 1
N2  - BACKGROUND: Foreign body (FB) ingestions are frequent in children. Whereas the majority of FBs pass spontaneously through the gastrointestinal tract, ingestion of magnetic FBs pose a particular risk for obstruction due to proximate attraction through the intestinal wall. STUDY OBJECTIVES: We aimed to identify the prevalence, clinical presentation, and management of magnetic FB ingestions at our tertiary care institution. METHODS: We performed a retrospective chart review of medical records of patients presenting to the pediatric Emergency Department (ED) or admitted to the hospital with FB ingestions from June 2003-July 2009. From those cases, patients with magnetic FB ingestions were identified. RESULTS: During the study period, 337,839 patients presented to the ED; 38 cases of magnetic FB ingestion were identified (prevalence 0.01%). Abdominal radiography was obtained in all cases. Ingestion of a single magnet occurred in 30 of 38 cases (79%). Of those, 4 patients underwent endoscopic removal due to signs of FB impaction in the esophagus or pylorus; no complications were noted. Ingestion of multiple magnets (range 2-6) occurred in 8 of 38 cases. Four of the 8 patients with multiple magnetic FBs (50%) presented with signs of peritonitis and required operative repair of multiple intestinal perforations. No deaths were identified. CONCLUSION: Although ingestion of a single magnetic FB may, in most cases, be managed as a simple FB ingestion, the ingestion of multiple magnetic FB is associated with a high risk of complication and requires aggressive management. We propose an algorithm for management of children with magnetic FB ingestions.    Keywords: Multiple magnet ingestion<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0736-4679
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jemermed.2012.03.025
ID  - ref1
ER  -