Article Text
Abstract
Foreign body ingestion in the paediatric population, especially when the details surrounding the ingestion are unknown, can be particularly difficult to manage. Magnets pose a unique challenge, as their magnetic field and caustic properties can instigate significant damage to the gastrointestinal tract if not treated in a timely manner. We report the case of a teenage male who presented to the emergency department with a chief complaint of cramping and abdominal pain. He was found to have multiple metallic foreign bodies within the lumen of the stomach, the distal ileum and the ascending colon/ileocecal valve region, which he did not have any recollection of ingesting. The management of an unknown multiple-magnet ingestion in the older paediatric population is not well documented, and this case may provide unique insight for the management of similar cases.
- Endoscopy
- Paediatrics
- Gastrointestinal surgery
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Footnotes
Contributors The following authors were responsible for drafting of the text, sourcing and editing of clinical images, investigation results, drawing original diagrams and algorithms, and critical revision for important intellectual content: all of the authors contributed to this paper. SM (drafting of the article, performed literature search), MB (drafting of the article, critical revision of the article), SJKR (critical revision of the article), US (managed the case, critical revision of the article for important intellectual content, supervising attending, final approval of the article, guarantor of the article). The following authors gave final approval of the manuscript: US.
Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Case reports provide a valuable learning resource for the scientific community and can indicate areas of interest for future research. They should not be used in isolation to guide treatment choices or public health policy.
Competing interests None declared.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.