Magnetic foreign body ingestion in pediatric patients: report of three cases

BACKGROUND: Although foreign bodies (FBs) typically pass spontaneously and uneventfully through the digestive tract, a subset of such bodies may become trapped, eventually leading to significant injury. In particular, the ingestion of magnetic materials can cause serious morbidity due to proximate attraction through the intestinal wall. CASE PRESENTATION: We recently treated three pediatric patients who had ingested several magnetic foreign materials. None of these patients exhibited any clinical symptoms or signs suggestive of surgical abdomen. Moreover, it was difficult to determine a definite diagnosis and a treatment plan due to limitations in history taking and radiologic examination. After admission to the hospital, these patients underwent surgery for the following reasons: (1) failure to spontaneously pass ingested foreign materials; (2) sudden-onset abdominal pain and vomiting during hospitalization; and (3) gastric perforation incidentally discovered during gastroduodenoscopy. Subsequently, all patients were discharged without complications; however, their conditions might have been fatal without surgery at an appropriate time. CONCLUSIONS: As the clear identification about the number and characteristics of ingested magnets via radiographic examination or patient history appears to be difficult in pediatric patients, close inpatient observation would be required in any case of undetermined metallic FB ingestion. Patients who are confirmed to have ingested multiple magnets should be regarded as conditional surgical patients, although their clinical conditions are stable.