Accidental ingestion of magnets in children. Report of three cases
Cortés, C.; Silva, C.
Revista Medica de Chile 134(10): 1315-1319
2006
ISSN/ISBN: 0034-9887 PMID: 17186104 Document Number: 604070
Accidental ingestion of foreign bodies in childhood is an increasing problem. Although many of them can be treated with an expectant approach, allowing their passage through the gastrointestinal tract, magnets must be extracted, due to their high rate of complications, such as perforation. We report three patients that ingested magnets. A five year-old male was operated with an extensive ulceration of the jejunum, where a cylindrical magnet was extracted. A four year-old female was operated with a perforation of the anterior wall of the stomach and three magnets were extracted from the peritoneal cavity. A four year-old female, was transferred from a hospital where she had been operated for a magnet ingestion that provoked three perforations in the small bowel.